Mighty Heron Charters

11/18/2024

Hey Gang,

Finally got out after being blown-out for 7 days.

What a day. First, a very large cruising boat was pinned against the RR bridge and they needed the tide to slack before pulling it off and to our shock a NJ transit team was able to show up and declare the bridge safe to be raised on a Sunday morning.

So we didn’t even hit the ocean til about 9:30.

We found some dense schools of bunker right off the beach but as what is normal of late there was nothing there except doggies.

So we went a little deeper and found some bird play and occasional fish on the surface chasing sand eels. Yet again, it was like playing whack-a-mole. Put out the kitchen sink and nothing but dogs.

Thanks to our buds on another charter boat we were advised to put out some trolling gear even deeper.

It worked. We ended up with a couple “overs”, measuring up to 35”, 4 slot keepers, and 2 bonus in about an hour. Persistence and flexibility to do different things (like things I don’t care for - trolling - ) paid-off.

Had our first double-header of stripers on a rig in like, 15+ years.

Smiling faces and bags of fish to take home and enjoy.

11/15/2024

2 SPOTS LEFT FOR OPEN BOAT ON WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20TH.
"ALL DAY" MIXED BAG. $150 PP.
Call me direct at 609-519-1708.

11/12/2024

Hey Gang - Striped Bass Update
The bunker finally began showing up pretty close to Manasquan Inlet last week and the stripers with them. Last Friday they were kind of scattered, but we finally found them North of Shark River. Jeff and his dad, Robert, managed to get a couple, including a 38 . Snagged bunkers and spoons were the ticket.

Friday was a spectacle. The biggest concentration of bunker I have seen in sometime. We saw 6 different whales. At one point there were 3 humpbacks working together and actively feeding. We had 200 # BFT jumping clean out of the water.

There was a strong blow on Saturday, and we did not go out. That front really scattered everything. On Sunday, pretty much everything was gone. No bunker, BFT, or whales to be seen. The few stripers around were widely scattered and focused on sand eels. We threw everything resembling a sand eel and poppers at them, but it was like playing whack-a-mole.

The most consistent bite is still up around Sandy Hook and over to central Long Island. There is still plenty of fishing left to be done.

We were blown out today, so the open boat trip is now rescheduled for November 20th, and we have 2 spots available. $150 per person for an all day mixed bag trip.

11/11/2024

Happy Veterans Day!
Thanks vets. Go out there and get some of those free meals, you have certainly earned it.

Remember, we offer a 10% discount to all veterans, active duty and first responders.

11/06/2024

We have one spot for open boat "mixed bag" on Tuesday Nov. 12. All day $150.

11/05/2024

The bite this weekend was a bit more scattered and further North. Unusual catch! We had a flounder once on a stretch 25, we had a flounder once on an umbrella rig. But a 17 inch flounder taking a 9 inch flutter spoon is really ambitious.

10/30/2024

2 OPEN BOAT OPORTUNITIES - WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6TH AND FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29TH (BLACK FRIDAY).

The Wednesday the 6th trip is "mixed bag" of sea bass and stripers. We have 2 open spots available at $150. All day starting at 7am. AS OF 3PM on 10/30 WE HAVE ONE SPOT AVAILABLE.

November 29th. All day stripers starting at 7am. We will jig, live-line, or troll if necessary. $125 per person, capped at 5 people. AS OF 3PM 10/31 THIS TRIP IS FULL. THANK YOU!

Call me direct to save your spot.

609-519-1708

-Michael

10/30/2024

They are here and they are chewing. These fish are laser focused on sand eels from the bottom to the surface. So we are throwing every sand eel plug and jig possible. We are also putting live eels out in the mix. Of course we are ready for all possibilities.

We have pretty good availability for weekdays through the end of November and the bite should only get better.

10/29/2024

Hey Gang,
Sometimes I'm allowed to go get one, too.
Full report tomorrow.

10/26/2024

They were a little finicky today but they were there. This is a 33

10/24/2024

Hey Gang,
Several reliable sources have striper up to 52" being caught as far south as Deal, about 10 miles north of Manasquan Inlet. Sand eel jigs.

We are heading out Saturday and Sunday with very favorable West winds.

My goal is the 48" youngster going out on Saturday catches a striper longer than him.

We are ready to roll. Weekdays in November are available.

Here is a photo from 2002(?) taken by Gary Caputi of my first 35+ pound striper, caught at Quick's Hole, Elizabeth Islands.

Stripers are my jam.

10/20/2024

OPEN BOAT & STRIPER UPDATE

Hey Gang,

Open Boat
We still have 2 spots left for the "all day" open boat on October 27th. This is a mixed bag trip for sea bass and porgies. We will run back inside the line for stripers if they are here.

Striper Update
We had a legit report of stripers busting on bunker up North of Shark River last Thursday. We were out yesterday and heard boats trolling up in that area but nothing doing.

The water temp has dropped from 68 to 62 degrees. I swore that I saw my first sand eel spikes on the machine. It seems a little early but my contact at The Fisherman Magazine tells me that some bass and bluefish were caught at IBSP and had sand eels in the bellies, so...

STRIPER WEEKEND AVAILABILITY
Gang, it's a good problem for us to have but right now November 23rd is the only weekend date we have available for a striper or mixed bag trip. There is plenty of weekday availability.

Going back to speaking of sand eels. Last year, Nick H. was on an open boat striper trip and I noticed he was out-fishing the others by 2-1. Granted, Nick is a highly skilled angler, but something about his success caught my eye.

He shared with me the sand eel imitating jig that he was using. We just received a bunch of them. These jigs are obviously hand-made works of art. Can't wait to use them soon.

LET'S GO!

10/16/2024

Hey Gang,
Striped Bass Update.
The water temps off of Ocean and Monmouth Counties still range between 66-68 degrees. The majority of the fish are still out along central and eastern Long Island and Block Island Sound.
Maybe they will start to make the move South now after the full moon and this northwest blow.

I'll be posting an open - boat striper trip for later in November very soon.
IF YOU NEED A WEEKEND FOR STRIPERS IN NOVEMBER......
please consider booking soon. We have very limited availability. November out of Manasquan gives you your best bet at finding fish.

10/14/2024

Hey Gang,
We still have 2 spots left for the open boat on October 27th. All day mixed-bag. $150 per person.

10/07/2024

Hey Gang,
We ran a very short sea bass prospect trip last Friday, only heading out to about 65-80 feet of water. Dirty water made for tough fihsing.

We talked to some buds who went out deeper and found good clean water and a lot of porgies.

All reports indicate that the stripers are still up North, mostly from Montauk to Martha's Vineyard. This makes sense considering the water is still 68 degrees.

A very encouraging signis all the bunker schools - and I mean alot - from Little Egg right up through Manasquan. Plenty of food to hold the stripers around.

09/30/2024

Hey Gang,
THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT FOR OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER STRIPER AND SEA BASS TRIPS.

For the second season, we will be moving to the Point Pleasant – Manasquan Inlet area for stripers and sea bass for October and November. We will be based out of the *marina* on route 70 at the foot of the bridge leading to Brielle and across the street from the Crystal Point Yacht Club. We will return to the Ocean City area in late November or the beginning of December, depending on the bite.

Our followers on this page will receive 10% off the first of these trips they book for this season.

Why do this? It’s simple –
1. The striper fishing begins about 4 -6 weeks earlier than in the Ocean City area and they are consistently found inside the 3-mile limit. It’s like what it used to be out of Ocean City when on most days all you had to do was roll out of the inlet and look for the birds right off the beach.

2. For sea bass, we only need to run about half the distance to get to quality sea bass grounds. 5 miles for 65-85 feet of water and 15 miles for 140 feet of water.

Is the travel worth it? You can think of it like this. For folks traveling from the Ocean City area, it is an easy 1 hour drive up the parkway in the comfort of your vehicle instead of running North on the boat for an hour and hoping you find stripers inside the 3 mile limit or a 25+ mile run to get to the deep where the largest sea bass hang out.

For folks traveling from Pennsylvania, the Point Pleasant location is equidistant to Ocean City.

We will start sea bass trips on October 5th. Striper trips will start “about” October 15th. We won’t offer these trips until we have run some prospecting trips. We will post reports here and at the page "Mighty Heron Charters Point Pleasant".

Some key information -
The published listing states we are only running one trip a day, Thursday – Sunday. For our followers, if you contact us direct and need a Tuesday or Wednesday trip, we can likely accommodate you.

The listing says that all trips will begin at 6:30am. In reality, we will try to start trips about ½ before official sunrise, which will be changing throughout the fall. If you need a later start, depending on the length of the trip, we can start as late as 11:00am.

If you need an afternoon trip, we can do that except for Sundays. Keep in mind that we will be limited to 4 or 5 hour trips in the afternoon with the earlier sunsets.

I would prefer to limit these trips to 5 anglers. However, the folks who follow us and fish this time of year tend to be more experienced so we will accommodate 6.

The marina is a 10-15 minute transit to Manasquan Inlet and this does not count against your trip time.

Soon we will post dates for open boat trips for sea bass and striped bass. There will be one of each for both October and November.

Let's go, gang.

Do you want the best fishing charter experience in New Jersey? Mighty Heron Charters Point Pleasant offers Striper, Sea Bass, and a mixed bag porgie trip. Perfect for the experienced angler join us at Mighty Heron Charters.

09/29/2024

25 years since the most iconic Dolfin Dock Fall Striper Tournament hoodie came out. It's still on the shelf but doesn't get worn anymore. Anyone who fished this tournament will remember some of the massive fish that were weighed in and the legendary (or infamous) end of tournament banquets held at the Elks lodge in Scullville, EHT.

I think I was over the 90's trend of wearing a ballcap backwards at that point but what the hey. 😊

Striper and sea bass are almost upon us. Watch this space for October and November plans.

09/21/2024

Hey Gang,
We have one last opportunity to fish before heading North.

We are offering a 4 hour "up the river" for stripers and white perch on Saturday, September 28th beginning at 4:30pm. We have an excellent tide that evening for this pursuit.

We will chum, troll and cast.

The waters of the Great Egg River is where I actually grew up. Heck, we might even end up off the campground where I was a lifeguard as a teenager.

This trip is 4 hour and $400.