Is this the best fall in the history of NJ striped bass fishing?

[scoobydoo]

I can't recall a fall since the 2000's began that even comes close.

It's been epic for 2 months now.......daily epicness.

 

I'm not the only one saying this.......

 

We've had some good falls.....2022 seems to be exponentially "good'er"

 

So many massize schools of fish, so many varying size classes of fish, so many consecutive days.............and it's not just NJ.

 

 

[suntzu]

Best year for surf fishing and I have been doing this since 1979 Epic Spring for bass, short big blue run, best beach fluking in a while, great Spanish run followed by surreal bonita few weeks; giant bass late October and November everyone knows what that was

[Danny1199]

Only got out a handful of times this fall down the surf. Scored fish almost every time.  

 

Figures I pick this year to go into a weird non-shore mood.  Stayed to the river near me for the most part and caught a ton of slot fish. 

 

Think the gas prices mostly kept me away, to be honest. 

[msrief]

Mebbe, but believe me there were some great 1950s, 1960s and 1970s that were part of the 'history of NJ striped bass fishing.  IMHO

[Goldy]

Ive had some trouble catching fish this fall. 
 

Fyi. I had no blues and no albies so the year sucked

[Bonz]

Are the fish still blitzing in NJ? The bite on Long Island is pretty much finished. I’m jealous of you guys.

[40shades-of-blue]

Tough to say. For me off the top of my head I recall some of those pre Sandy sand eel bites were much better.  This fall has been lousy really. I caught four bass. I get out on the weekends and was only able to get one vacation week to fish. Four bass sounds so pathetic when I see some of these reports. Everyone that can get out nearly every day and ran into some of those hours long peanut blitzes I hope you know how fortunate you are. Honestly it gets me depressed sometimes how much I miss out. 

[Bunker1028]

5 mins ago, Bonz said:

Are the fish still blitzing in NJ? The bite on Long Island is pretty much finished. I’m jealous of you guys.

Yeah man, red hot.

[joefishnj21]

I think it was one of the best. Everybody has an idealistic perspective on the past. Sometimes it wasnt as epic as we remember in our minds. I cannot recall such an elongated season with so many varieties of bass with regards to size. Kicked off 2nd week of October and really hasn't stopped. There's been fish between dink class to 50 lbs and everything in between. Put it this way, how many consecutive years have we heard, "it was great for the boats,  not good for the surf guys." Well this year, it's been great for everyone. We might not be treated to that for another 10 or 15 years. Hope I'm wrong. 

Edited December 3, 2022 by joefishnj21

[Local24 SSP]

It’s been a good year for quantity. But I can think of better years of quality fish.. without digging out my logs, 2011 and I think it was ‘13 when we had herring move in heavily were great years, had 30lb class fish through the new year. 
 

I’m sure the tackle shops would say it’s the greatest year ever, until next year…

Edited December 3, 2022 by Local24 SSP

[TheLuckyStrike]

4 mins ago, Local24 SSP said:

It’s been a good year for quantity. But I can think of better years of quality fish.. without digging out my logs, 2011 and I think it was ‘13 when we had herring move in heavily were great years, had 30lb class fish through the new year. 
 

I’m sure the tackle shops would say it’s the greatest year ever, until next year…

Yep, totally agree with this. And 04 / 05 for me was beyond ridiculous numbers of really big bass. 

[Googs]

Without a doubt an incredible season. The surf scene now and when I started is apples to oranges. Day or night I've been catching bass every time with the exception of one evening. This is by far the most fishing I've done during the day in a very long time but it's hard not to when the fish are pushing bait the way they have been.

Two days ago my buddy and I had peanuts flowing on the beaches from 10:30 to 5 ish and we left them biting and that's been a daily occurnace on our beaches. When wind and tide don't matter as much, your having a really good season.

 

Early in the fall I had something really special going when the big bunker were around at night. Nicer fish on big plugs and jigs. Which is my favorite senerio and I'm grateful that pattern unfolded. Other season have had great night bites and others it has been MEH at best. Right now the night bite is good but not what it should be, years past we had big fish well into December. Right now it's not currently like that, for me at least. Numbers yes but true quality is hard to find.

 

These peanut blitzes remind me of the early 2000's and anyone who fished them knows how great they were. So that's a major win for us surf guys.

 

Number wise and size wise this is definitely one of the better falls and there is nothing to complain about. 

 

The term best is subjective, the best fall for me is the fall I caught my biggest bass in 2004.  To some this maybe the best fall to others maybe it's a great one and hell of a lot fun. 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Googs

[cartopper]

I’ve been keeping a log since 1982 . . . This past November definitely ranks up there with some of the better ones.  But there have been multiple falls that rival or surpass this current one.  Maybe this one has had more sustained daytime blitzes, but there’s been some sustained fall night bites in past years that were epic with fish ranging from teens to 30 lbrs.  With that, this fall is not over yet. 

[Local24 SSP]

3 hours ago, Googs said:

 The term best is subjective, the best fall for me is the fall I caught my biggest bass in 2004.  To some this maybe the best fall to others maybe it's a great one and hell of a lot fun. 

Exactly this.. I hate the term “best.” All comes down to opinion.
 

That old saying about opinions and balloon knots …. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Local24 SSP

[bido]

Fall day time, yes perhaps.  Had days in the late 90s like this fall but not consistently for two months.  Right spot, right time. Could be a half mile away, much less a county away, and catch nothing this fall.  

 

Most night fishermen would prefer a sand eel bite in fall i would surmise.  

Best daytime NJ fishing ive ever seen was the mid 2000s Jetty Country blitzes, but that was spring.   It was kind of like this fall, just add 20-30 lbs to the bass. 

Edited December 3, 2022 by bido