Ken's Dock

One of Tuesday ‘s striped bass

The striped bass are not holding in one place or in any pattern, in my core area. They remain in the area, but it is a seek and you will find situation, at this point. 1 % of the back bay waters including quality spots, have been producing the last couple of days.The conditions we need to catch NJ speckled sea trout have not lined up the this fall, and the window opening is getting narrow. NW wind for at least” 3 consecutive days and the dredge to move out of the inlet area, is a must for speck fishing in this area.

A bonus tagged fat 27″ striper bass

We untied the lines just after first light. I headed directly to the area that produced yesterday evening. We worked the spot good, and picked up one nice striper. We continued to numerous locations, before finding a few nice ones, holding in a small creek mouth. There is a  dredge working in the area, this always has a negative effect. It spooks fish and dirties the water. With this in mind, the sound of the stripers pulling the drag, sure sounded good.

A beautiful summer like , October afternoon on the water. Coupled with a good Striped bass bite.

Striped bass season is here and so are the striped bass! Catching striped bass using light tackle in the crystal clear and calm saltwater flats, is world class sport fishing! This year they are only found in key areas, and do not hold in any one spot very long. Time”, effort and intimate knowledge of the area. This combination is the key to catching striped bass in 2015

I can issue your slot fish (24′ -29.9″) New Jersey striped bass tag. There is never a sure thing with saltwater fishing, but filling your striped bass tag  during  a guided trip,  is real close to it. 

Jeff and Ben with red drum they caught on lures from the beach in Cape May co., NJ

Today the weather conditions  are right on target. This is the first time excellent conditions have occurred this year for red drum, NJ speckled trout and back bay striped bass. This upcoming week looks good also !  There are a few dates open for guided trips during the next two weeks.  I have striped bass tags for the 24″- 27.9″ in hand, for all of my clients. All of the fishing is with light tackle and from the calm beautiful saltwater sounds. The bite has been red hot the last couple of days, by the way. 609-412-3811

A pretty New Jersey speckled sea trout. I caught this one in October. Some years the speck bite holds into December

Justin is one of the few to catch striped bass during this extended NE wind.

The night striped bass bite is the only one to continue, to spite days of NE wind. Everyday the wind blows from the NE the slower the fishing becomes. After a week of NE wind the fishing comes to a halt. To heat the fishing up we need at least 3 days of NW wind. A week of NW wind and the fishing will be on fire. Saltwater fishing is tied directly to the weather conditions. Hopefully, the westerly winds dominate for the rest of the 2015 fall season.

Local sharpie CJ Polhamus holds up a 2015 tide-runner weakfish. Today tide-runners are just about impossible to catch without a high angling skill set.

It is so refreshing to see this weakfish study taking place. North Carolina saltwater fishermen are financing a  comprehensive weakfish study, via saltwater license funds. The weakfish will be tracked using state of the art electronics. The Delaware Bay is a focus point of the study. The North Caroline State University research team and Delaware fish and wildlife staff are working together. They have been busy catching weakfish in the Delaware bay and releasing them with the implanted tracking device. At this point, the reason for the slow recover and the cause of the weakfish stock collapse, has been anybody’s guess. However, after reviewing all the ASMFC weakfish management decisions, it becomes glaringly apparent to me, it was mismanagement by the ASMFC…  The tide-runner weakfish population has bounced back from the low of 2009, to the point that skill sharp anglers can target and catch a few. All things considered, this in itself  was an  amazing come back. .   However, the weakfish stock remains out of reach to the average angler. Identifying the problem is the first step to solving any problem. I am confident that this study will put the weakfish on track to a full recovery.