AndrewA Posted October 2 Report Share Posted October 2 Finally made it back out with the fly rod today after a month of being overly busy with work and social commitments. Spent most of the day exploring MoCo 'out back' (all of the Raritan Bay side qualifies as out back right?), did more driving around and looking at water than fishing, no luck when I did cast. Saw some bait - one big pile of totally unruffled peanut bunker, lots of mummichog in the shallows, maybe a few small pods of mullet??? - but not that much, and nothing chasing them at all. The only thing that looked at my clauser all day was an overly excited but equally indecisive needlefish. Anyway, planning on trying again next weekend. Can anyone give me the low down on what is going on this time of year in MoCo waters? What kind of bait are around? What are they doing? Who's eating them? Differences out front vs out back? I'm always fascinated by the ecology of it all as well as dieing to catch some fish, so the more info the better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.O.G Posted October 2 Report Share Posted October 2 You’re not gonna get much info on who what when here. Guys are tight lipped as they should be. Best answer is observe as you did, and fish accordingly. It’s the right time to explore and find em…… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckscorider Posted October 3 Report Share Posted October 3 Perhaps go out front and fish right in the wash. Crushed barbs save fish, keep that rod bent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJeb Posted October 3 Report Share Posted October 3 You can skim through the last 3 years of October fishing reports for an idea: AndrewA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishfettinj Posted October 3 Report Share Posted October 3 Explore and do “scouting” missions. I did that all of September with zero success and boom October 1 my first fall fish is. A beautiful 45 incher AndrewA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewA Posted October 3 Author Report Share Posted October 3 50 mins ago, Fishfettinj said: Explore and do “scouting” missions. I did that all of September with zero success and boom October 1 my first fall fish is. A beautiful 45 incher Very nice. When I did some exploring late August I did have a few skunk days, but then had a nice afternoon in shallow water catching a few snapper blues as my reward. I was mostly hoping for very general information about what kind of fish (bait and target) are around, so I would know what flies to tie/buy, and could decide whether to prioritize the back or front in my scouting. Also just to learn more about the ecosystem, as I'm fairly new to the area. Appreciate JerseyJebs advice of looking through old fishing reports - lots of info in there! I guess I was being lazy and hoping somebody would summarize it for me! Where's the cliff-notes!? (j/k) Or I can do it the hard way and enjoy the process. Fishfettinj 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthewash Posted October 3 Report Share Posted October 3 Or I can do it the hard way and enjoy the process. It's part of fun it's much more rewarding to learn things on your own Fishfettinj 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJeb Posted October 3 Report Share Posted October 3 1 hour ago, AndrewA said: Very nice. When I did some exploring late August I did have a few skunk days, but then had a nice afternoon in shallow water catching a few snapper blues as my reward. I was mostly hoping for very general information about what kind of fish (bait and target) are around, so I would know what flies to tie/buy, and could decide whether to prioritize the back or front in my scouting. Also just to learn more about the ecosystem, as I'm fairly new to the area. Appreciate JerseyJebs advice of looking through old fishing reports - lots of info in there! I guess I was being lazy and hoping somebody would summarize it for me! Where's the cliff-notes!? (j/k) Or I can do it the hard way and enjoy the process. Out front and out back this time of year you will run into silversides, bay anchovies, bunker (small peanuts and large adults), mullet, and this year along northern nj coast we had a ton of Spot as well. Out back you will also get palm sized silver perch. Sand eels will also eventually show up when it gets colder, that's mostly ocean side but they are in the bay as well. Then for small critters we have plenty of mole crabs, grass shrimp, and marine worms. AndrewA and Moose 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclekhalid Posted October 12 Report Share Posted October 12 Raritan bay in the back I saw a mullet break the surface right on shore, or at least it looked it. Seems like they're feeding on some of the tiny little bait balls in the sand Stripers caught: 0 Attempts Made: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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