It seems that, in a rather short period of time, the river bite slowed and many of the big stripers moved out. There is still bunker to be had in the lower sections of the river if you know where to look though. So grabbing some of that and heading to river mouth areas or local points and reefs is not a bad idea and will produce. Further away from the river the live eel bite remains strong and equal success has been had on tubes, GT Eels, and three-waying bunker and eels out deeper. Large flutter spoons also continue to be hot and are worth having. Big bass really seem to take those things personally. We’ve had some rain and fog early recently, which is of course not great for navigation, but if you can safely get out there on the days when the weather is less than ideal you could get one of your better bites of the week. Casting X-Raps and soft plastics is also working well, as the bigger bluefish seem to have either moved off to deeper waters like the Race or Gut or thinned out enough to make soft plastics a good choice.
New this year, there is a closure of seabass fishing from June 24th to July 7th. You cannot target or keep seabass during this time. Remind your friends and fellow anglers, as rules like these can sometimes catch folks by surprise, especially when the norm has been a summer of fully open seabass fishing.
Porgy fishing has been increasingly better with warmer water and better action in shallow. Shore anglers are having luck with sandworms and clams, and the same baits plus squid are working well out deep. Porgy fishing should remain consistent at this point and we hope to see the occasional whopper come through as well.
Fluke fishing has continued to be solid locally, and shallow, backwater fluke fishing has been good as well. Out deep, squid and stripped, legal bluefish are great baits to try and land a monster. A common tactic is to use a premade or homemade High-Low rig with a teaser up top tipped with pork rinds or jig strips and a bucktail down low. Out deep, you’ll want bucktails from 6 to 8 ounces or more to hold bottom in the current, but in shallow you can get away with an ounce or so, especially in the back tidal creeks.
Fluke fishing seems to fluctuate in our area, so try a bunch of depths, try sand, try reef and rock areas, and when you start to get some action, try to shrink your drifts down to re-target productive areas.
The strong start to fluke season has meant a good number of sign-ups for the annual BHO Fluke Fest coming up from July 20th to 23rd. The first 50 sign-ups get in on a captain’s bag with tons of good stuff! We are also offering a variety of Calcutta option within the tournament as well. You can find the sign-up link here: https://www.blackhalloutfitters.com/blogs/explore/flukefest-2023-is-here
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