December 16, 2020 — The coast could see some 14-foot wave heights from a winter snowstorm that is forecast to barrel into New Jersey on Wednesday.
We’ll see if that affects the current pattern of a morning striped bass bite on the beaches. Surf fishermen have been enjoying a good run of mostly slot size bass in spots like Sea Girt, and Brick on down through the Ocean County barrier islands.
Bob Matthews at Fisherman’s Den in Belmar said any sand eel imitation was working on the bass. He was in the thick of the action over the weekend and noted a lot of shad in the surf as well. In fact, he said he dropped his teaser because he was catching too many.
George Konowall of Philadelphia has the distinction of weighing in the final bass in the Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Classic. Konowall landed the fish Saturday afternoon at Barneget Light fishing with bunker bait. At 12 pounds, six ounces it posed no challenge to the leader, which at the end of the tournament on Sunday, was still Bob Daley’s 24-pound bass he caught back on Nov. 26.