While local freshwater fishing is on the slow side, stripers, bluefish, and weakfish are feasting on mullet, sand eels and peanut bunker in the surf, and at the same time, blackfish action has been good along the jetty rocks and bridge pilings at North Jersey shore points, according to our saltwater fishing reporters from On the Water Magazine. To pursue these hard fighting fish, it’s recommended shore anglers pack metals, swim shads, peanut swimmers, needlefish an eel imitation plastic lures.

The Tackle Box in Hazlet says schoolie stripers are being caught at the local pier along with cocktail blues. Sea bass season opened although weather conditions prevented anglers from pursuing them. With an expected drop in temperatures, baitfish will fill in and striper fishing will improve off the beaches.

Joe at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands, reports there are a lot of fish in the rivers feeding mostly on mullet. Stripers have been setting up under the bridges, and anglers are picking them up nose-first in the current. Jigs are working best but the shop is selling lots of eels for them. Bottom fishermen are picking away at small blackfish around the Highlander Pipeline with some small sea bass mixed in. The talk of the town was the 13-pound sheepshead caught that just missed the state record by about 6 ounces.

Mike Pinto at Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright, said local surfcasters are picking up some weakfish and stripers on the oceanfront while blues of various sizes are in the rivers. Most of the bait from rivers to the ocean beaches has been mullet with a fair amount of sand eels mixed in. After the recent northeast blow that stirred up the surf, it also stirred up the bass that are taking notice where the sand eels are most concentrated, alluding to good striper action. Mike recommends using soft plastics, diamond jigs and needlefish then hit the sand.

Mike Gleason at TAK Waterman in Long Beach, said the surf has been big after the northeast wind. Cooler temps should pick up angling action. What excites Mike the most, he said, are the loads of 5-7-inch sand eels that have shown up in the surf, which bodes well for a night bite. The week before, surfcasters were catching all the 2-5-pound bluefish you could imagine on the beaches, and when caught, they’re spitting up sand eels. Since then, the bass bite has picked up with fish in the teen class taking sand eel style baits like needlefish, Tsunami sand eels and other slim-profile soft plastics. The local rivers are also fishing well for slightly smaller bass. A few anglers slipped out offshore and caught recreational-size bluefin tuna with a few hardtails mixed in.

The best news from Tim at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar are that party boats are starting to catch sea bass while shore fisherman are hooking bass from 28-34 inches along with a few schoolies and a couple really big blues. A couple shop regulars who use heavier gear on the beaches, got all riled up after one angler brook off two huge fish during a bass outing. Most surfcasters are catching bass with heavier diamond jigs and yellow SP minnows during mornings and evenings, which is likely due to the influx of sand eels and peanut bunker that combined, point to good fall fishing.