BAY SLAY

an insider look at some of our best

bays to fish with some of the best

local captains from around the country

WORDS BY Captain DEREK BIELITZ

RARITAN Bay

STATE: NEW JERSEY

KEY SPECIES: Striped Bass, Bluefish, Tautog, Porgies, Fluke, Flounder,

TACKLE:

Reel: Penn Fathom Low profile ALL SIZES ROD: Carnage iii inshore All Sizes

REEL: PENN LIve liner spinning all sizes / BATTLE III all sizes

Fall time in Raritan Bay is a special time of year. Marinas are beginning to close, less boats on the water and migrating striped bass coming into local waters. Raritan Bay is a body of water located between the northern coast of New Jersey and New York. In the fall, the striped bass fishing heats up as baitfish such as peanut bunkers, adult bunkers, grass shrimp, and rain fish begin to exit the smaller tributaries of local rivers as well as the Arthur Kill and Hudson River and sand eels from out east come into local waters. With a bay that consists of various shipping channels, rock piles, natural mussel bottom as well as lumps, ridges and rips there are many different areas to find and locate This sets up a big stage for migrating striped bass to come in and fatten up as they are migrating south for the winter months.

Fall time is prime time for our striped bass fishery as it offers multiple ways of targeting and catching these fish. With fish ranging from schoolies of 20” to trophy striped bass taping scales of 50+ pounds, you are never sure what you might encounter on any given day. Multiple methods are used such as bait fishing, trolling, but nothing beats pulling up on acres of feeding birds with fish underneath and casting and jigging ARTIFICIAL lures.

For now, lets concentrate on bait fishing and fishing artificial lures. Bait rigs generally consist of a three way swivel with a 6/0 to 9/9 circle hook tied to a 5’ leader of 40# fluorocarbon. On another eye a 18” dropper with a sinker heavy enough to hold bottom (sometimes up to 20oz.) is attached. Live bunker and live eels are the bait of choice, dropping them to the bottom and drifting them along channel edges and structure. Making sure you have current is a must, as the fish rarely feed on a slack tide. As you are drifting, you want to slowly be lifting the bait up and down making sure you feel the sinker bouncing along the bottom. With circle hooks now mandatory there is no need to “set the hook”. When you feel the bite, give a second or two and then slowly lift and begin to reel. As the line gets tight, the hook will set itself.

Casting and jigging artificial lures in the fall season is what normally attracts anglers to Raritan Bay. Run and gun fishing, chasing birds and fishing structure gets the blood flowing and keeps everyone busy. There is a wide selection of lures used for this, but the main idea is to “match the hatch”. Rubber shads in various sizes from 4” to 9” resembling peanut bunkers and adult bunkers casted into feeding schools of stripers will entice bites consistently. Also, when the fish are feeding on the surface, top water action can occur with clients throwing 7” and 9” DOC plugs as well as metal lip swimmers and pencil poppers and watch the surface bites of the lures.

A newer technique that has taken over the area in the past year or two is “spooning”. When there is no surface action, locating a school of adult bunkers is the way to go and dropping spoons down has become deadly. The spoons are 9” and are fished in a slow jigging motion lifting up and going down with the line taught as the spoon flutters back to the bottom. The spoon resembles an injured bunker falling to the bottom and most of the bites occur on the fall.

As the water cools and more sand eels become present, the fish begin to change their diet and focus on the schools of sand eels. Stripers gorging themselves on sand eels is a norm for Raritan Bay in the late fall, and fishing with diamond jigs when this happens is the norm. This is a practice in this area that has been used for decades. 2-6 oz diamond jigs, both plain and some with colored tails. Bouncing the jigs along the bottom, or casting and retrieving the jigs through the water column will make the jigs imitate a nervous sand eel and will entice the bass to hit.

Overall, the Raritan Bay is a body of water that holds multiple possibilities in the fall for an angler looking to pursue a single fish in a variety of ways. With its proximity to NJ and NY it is easily accessible to many and a place that holds a resource that many don’t think exists being so close to a major city.

Casting and jigging artificial lures is what the fall season is what normally attracts anglers to Raritan Bay in the fall. Run and gun fishing, chasing birds and fishing structure gets the blood flowing and keepers everyone busy. There is a wide selection of lures used for this, but the main idea is to “match the hatch”. Rubber shads in various sizes from 4” to 9” resembling peanut bunkers and adult bunkers casted into feeding schools of stripers will entice bites consistently. Also when the fish are feeding on the surface, top water action can occur with clients throwing 7” and 9” DOC plugs as well as metal lip swimmers and pencil poppers and watch the surface bites of the lures.

As the water cools and more sand eels become present, the fish begin to change their diet and focus on the the schools of sand eels. Stripers gorging themselves on sand eels is a norm for Raritan Bay in the late fall, and fishing with diamond jigs when this happens is the norm. This is a practice in this area that has been used for decades. 2-6 oz diamond jigs, both plain and some with colored tails.. Bouncing the jigs along the bottom, or casting and retrieving the jigs through the water water column will make the the jigs imitate a nervous sand eel and will entice the bass to hit.

Overall the Raritan Bay is a body of water that holds multiple possibilities in the fall for an angler looking to pursue a single fish in a variety of ways. With its proximity to NJ and NY it is easily accessible too many and a place that holds a resource that many don’t think exists being so close to a major city.