Fish On
Bass are plentiful in local waters
RON NUZZOLO
From Romer Shoals, Shrewsbury Rocks and down to Barnegat Bay, bass are everywhere. Anglers across the Garden State pursued trophy bass this week and finally found keepers. Capt. Steve Purul aboard the Reel Fantasy charters from Barnegat has been in the thick of bass season all week long. Capt. Steve had the Green Briar Fishing Club out to score 30-plus stripers, including five keepers to 30 inches.

Wayne Smith of Manahawkin has been picking bass off the surf every night for the past week from Island State Beach Park in Sea Side Heights. Wayne tells me one out of five are keepers, with plenty of surf action.

From Point Pleasant, Capt. Joe aboard the Irish Ayes also slammed away at blues and bass. Capt. Joe has been working south about two or three miles off the Manasquan inlet. The crew managed to get past some big blues and scored bass up to 24 pounds.

Hunter 2 from Keyport trolled almost everywhere with no luck until they spotted birds working off the Hook. The crew found stripers with the shad umbrella rig and had plenty of action on the depth finder. Hunter 2 landed 13 stripers and two big bluefish, all on shads. One striper was a keeper and the rest were 24 inches to 27 inches.

Over the weekend, over 1,000 boats were chasing bass from Romer Shoals to Shrewsbury rocks. Anglers tried it all from clams, eels, jigs and trolling umbrella rigs. With November here, party boats are in full swing and should see good jigging action

with the drop in water temperature over the next few weeks. The fall bass are definitely early and a bit bigger and more aggressive than last fall. This proves the biomasses are getting a chance to grow and thrive off New Jersey. Now is the time to get out there and make it count.

Did you know?

Built in 1898, the Romer Shoals Lighthouse is located in Raritan Bay between Staten Island, N.Y., and Sandy Hook. It marks the Swash Channel to Sandy Hook.

Fish on!