Big stripers are everywhere. The bite that began up in Raritan Bay has spread down the coast with jumbo bass being caught from Sandy Hook to Island Beach State Park.  The boats are getting the best of it parking on schools of bunker. 

Many folks are getting their personal best stripers with fish up to 50 pounds while keeper bass between 28 and 31 inches are rare. There have been monster surf fish as well but the numbers pale in comparison to what the boaters are catching.  

Not everyone is targeting the big girls. Sea bass and porgy fishing has been very good, blackfishing is excellent at the inlets and in the Point Pleasant Canal and the canyons are giving up bluefin, yellowfin and bigeye. Bluefin have also been spotted crashing through the bunker pods and albies are around as well. 

Mark Faduli at Tackle World in Rochelle Park said the stripers are all over the place from the back of Raritan Bay to Breezy Point. Mojos, umbrella rigs, big shads and topwater plugs are all working. He also reported solid sea bass, porgy and tog fishing. Trout fishing has been excellent, Fuduli said, as stocking just ended and there’s plenty of water in local streams. There are lake trout at Round Valley, pike biting in the Passaic River and landlocked salmon being caught at Lake Waywayanda. 

Danny Stolba at Fish Tail Bait and Tackle in Carteret said bass are back and biting in the Arthur Kill. Numerous fish were caught over the weekend on fresh bunker chunks with fish up to 39 inches. 

Capt. Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said the striper fishing is incredible with loads of trophy bass reported. He heard of more than 40 fish over 40 inches caught on Tuesday. The back of Raritan Bay, over to the New York side and the Shrewsbury Rocks were all hot spots. Mojos, shads, flutter spoons and topwater plugs all caught fish. 

Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said last Thursday and Friday had lights out surf fishing for big stripers but it’s gone a little quiet since then. The stripers are still around, he said, and if you put the time in casting, you’ll catch them. The A and B lots on Sandy Hook have been productive. The rivers, he added, have been giving up bass at night. 

Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Branch said the stripers have been in and out of the surf hitting bucktails and shads. Adult and peanut bunker are around and he reported bass up to 45 inches. Gleason said there have been a number of reports of bass anglers seeing bluefin busting in schools of bunker. The night bite off the beach has been decent as well, he said. There are more medium sized stripers up in the bay, he said, hitting shads and plugs with fish in the 8- to 12-pound range.  The tuna bite has moved to the canyons. Anglers making the trip are doing well chunking for yellowfin and bluefin. And there are still plenty of false albacore around. Gleason said they’ve been feeding on rain bait. 

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There was an armada of boats from Asbury Park down to Spring Lake on Wednesday morning fishing the bunker pods. Afternoon reports indicated everybody was getting into the trophy fish.  

Capt. Pete Sykes of Parker Pete’s Sportfishing out of Belmar was among those many boats on Wednesday and he called the action insane. It lasted from before first light until tired arms cried uncle. All of the bass were between 30 and 50 pounds and high hook had 10 fish. Livelining, flutter spoons and big shads accounted for all the catches. Capt. Sykes has a few openings left for this Friday’s open boat striper trip and details are on Parker Pete’s website. 

The Big Mohawk out of Belmar also had a banner day on Wednesday catching 55- plus jumbo bass. The Big Mohawk will continue sailing for stripers for the immediate future. 

Capt. Steve Spinelli on the Skylarker out of Belmar stuck with bottom fishing for his charters and they are enjoying steady catches of sea bass, big porgies, blowfish and winter flounder. He also reported seeing a lot of false albacore offshore. Ted Imfeld at the Reel Seat in Brielle said the Manasquan River has stripers and bluefish and there are some weakfish in there as well. Bubble gum Fin-S shads have been working for them. The canyons are the place to go for yellowfin and bluefin, he said, while inshore striper anglers have spotted a number of bluefin busting in bunker pods. 

Kyle Tangen at Fishermen’s Supply in Point Pleasant Beach said boats were on big stripers north and south of the Manasquan Inlet on Wednesday. The biggest bass he heard of so far was a 61-incher caught earlier this week. Raritan Bay is loaded with smaller stripers and they’re hitting just about everything. He fished up there earlier in the week and found plenty of fish on peanut bunker in the middle of the bay. Gator bluefish showed up in the Manasquan River and Point Pleasant Canal and there are stripers in both places as well. Togging and sea bassing have been good on the Axel Carlson and Sea Girt reefs, he added, and more jumbo sea bass showed up in the last week. 

Chris Parlow from Captain Bill’s Landing in Point Pleasant Beach reported that the big striper bite keeps on going. Jumbo bass have been blitzing each day somewhere along the beach. Boaters are getting fish livelining, on shads and with flutter spoons. There has also been a decent top water bite at times. Fish have also been caught in deeper water on bunker spoons and Mojos, he said. A number of thresher sharks have been hooked by boaters trolling for stripers. The tuna bite slowed a bit, but several bigeyes have been caught or hooked out in the canyon. There have also been numerous bluefin cruising the inshore grounds, he added. 

Capt. Danny Gregory on the Norma K III out of Point Pleasant Beach said the sea bassing has been good and the porgy fishing is excellent with some big ones coming over the rail. There’s winter flounder in the mix as well. Wednesday’s trip also saw triggerfish, tog and blues. Capt. Gregory said the Norma K III will be scheduling several offshore sea bass trips in November. Check the website for dates and full details. The Norma K III sails every day at 7:30 a.m. 

Capt. Kenny Namowitz on the Mimi VI out of Point Pleasant Beach said his charters have been staying busy with giant porgies, sea bass and winter flounder.  Wednesday’s trip was no exception with a nice haul of all three, plus some bluefish.

Ray Kerico at Grumpy’s Tackle in Seaside Park said some big bass, over 40 inches, have been caught in the local surf. It’s a low-light bite, he said, with bombers, SP Minnows and Mag Darters catching the monster bass. A few have been caught on bunker chunks as well. Kerico said anglers have had to work for the fish and the successful ones are putting the time in. Everyone is concentrating on stripers so he hasn’t heard of much else except that togging is good in the canal and at the inlet jetties.

• Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain in New Jersey!

Best Bets for the Weekend

Now is the time striper anglers wait for all year. Jumbo bass are in Raritan Bay and all along the coast. Getting on a boat will provide your best shot at a big fish, but they’re biting in the surf as well. Patience will be key for beach anglers. 

Most of these fish are outside of keeper range so handle carefully before releasing.