Spectacular Topwater Beach Wade Fishing! Monsters Crushed Lures!

[@8xOctober]

I love how you walk up to no birds, people, fish, anything and catch more fish in 12 minutes than I've pulled out of the sound and ocean my whole life! Hello from Northport.

[@risenfromthepyre]

I've caught some sick blues from the surf in Northport. Go out early AM low or dropping tide at any creek with a big popper. Especially in the Spring

[@johndiasjr9000]

Yeah triangle over there is very productive, my dad lives out by the end he sees em busting out all the time

[@risenfromthepyre]

@@johndiasjr9000 There are monsters in the sound. The world record striper 81 lbs.+ came from Long Isand Sound. Theres a ton of forage for them and they can migrate back and forth between New England states.

[@GregBradshaw-uz3ff]

Thanks for the surf fishing vid really missed them

[@mccandrj]

My father said: If Blues got any bigger, there would be no other fish in the sea!

[@bcecala76]

😂. My uncle used to say. Nobody would go swimming!!

[@INLUVWITASTRIPER]

Do you part, smoke a blue fish 😂 🤤

[@GODZclaN11]

With big and/or green fish so close to the rod tip I worry about pulled hooks and a plug "cast" back at me by a loaded rod. I hold the rod parallel to the water to prevent getting a face full of hooks. I know someone who would likely have lost an eye(s) from this scenario. I also nearly decapitated someone sitting atop a jetty when a 5 oz. glider pulled out in close with my rod fully loaded by a big bass. Careful out there men.

[@benfleye-craft9976]

Lefty Kreh said “if bluefish got to be the size of amberjack, nobody would go swimming”

[@johndiasjr9000]

He ain't wrong lol

[@willraefpv]

Bluefish are all over Barnegat Bay NJ right now

[@coxgaspoweredtether]

We had at least a dozen gorilla Blues up to thirty four inches in the shinecock bay last week they were thick East side and were finning.. We pulled up.. threw some big spoons and top water poppers and they were grabbing them didn't want anything else not even diamond jigs picky. Oh yes on the dark matter john skinner fluke rod and VR 50, fun. I know you say not wire leaders but I lost $25 spoon, 2 were chasing same lure....

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

I'm glad you're enjoying the rod!

[@dougbrodsky3745]

The bluefish bite started in April on the mid South Shore and it was off the charts for several weeks. Saw fish to 17 lbs.

[@hotchihuahua1546]

Just WOW ! I have been to Cape Hatteras for blues but this is at another level !

[@robertk28k29]

Blues fishing has been fantastic this spring off the surf and nothing small all big blues. No cocktails at all at the spots. I’ve been fishing mostly diamond jigs and some top water plugs Long Island south shore…

[@josephchristopher7534]

I live in PA but fish the salt in NJ. These days I am putting myself in the water as early as I can on the bay behind Island Beach State Park. The guys who were there at dawn already had up to 8 blues on plugs last Friday morning. One guy had a couple modest stripers on soft plastic right at dawn. I feel lucky to have landed 1 on 3 hookups as the tide petered out and it all went dead. I did get bitten off clean once. How you manage to fish through all those gators and not lose one plug just amazes me. Thanks for the show!

[@chrisgallagher3703]

John you never cease to amaze me my friend!! What a way to start the season...Tight Lines as always !!!

[@barryd.thomassr.9156]

I love weh they are close like that! Cape may nj. Have not fished for blues in quite a while

[@angelman4164]

East coast of Florida been catching cocktail blues for the past 5 months with Spanish mackerel mixed in. Grew up on long island. Been here since September. Amazing.

[@stevenmagliacane7407]

Hey John thanks for the vid man!!!! I’m in New Jersey, Monmouth county. I fish from Manasquan inlet to sandy hook.(lucky me:-))Out front and bays and rivers. Bluefish are going good here. All sizes. But very thin and wafer like. Had a few today like your catching in the vid!!! Whales and dolphins chewing in bunker daily. Thanks again

[@kevinmicinilio4511]

Great video as always! Love the idea of the "survey" CT side of Long Island Sound (more Western-ish). Last May, BOMBER blues made a quick appearance, just like your video - no visible signs but they were HAMMERING topwaters. Did not see a single bunker but they were ALL puking them up Fall 2022 was top 5 all time in the past 45 years for me! Good sized blues up to 12lbs, zeroed in on peanuts. They hung around for weeks. Was an absolute blast!

[@jdmmarcelo10]

Blues came in mid April here in New Jersey in the rivers and bays now starting to see then more on the ocean. Beaches

[@jimmyd5484]

great job as always john! ive been fishing narrows bay blues in the 15lb range i have a place out in southold also, when im out there i always try to hit the beach, much less people just the usuall locals, not the combat fishing like on the south shore! tight lines to all!!!

[@johndiasjr9000]

Yeah narrows has been real good last couple weeks higher tide seems to be better bite

[@theodumas2401]

Western sound saw Bluefish around mid may, huge numbers (millions) flooding through. They have mostly been on bunker school and on warm days they have been finning.

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Blues galore from the shore :-)

[@googeelou]

Interesting. No birds working, yet there you are catching blues. Great video Mr. Skinner. Lou.

[@williamfris3835]

Great Blue fishing this spring from shore on Long Island (North Shore) when the tide is right

[@bobgarrison9974]

Hey John-we had the longest streak of max blues (up to 19 lbs) during the MV Striper/Bluefish Derby first 2 weeks of October-best in fifteen years. Fourteen pounders were thrown back all day at Wasque on the east end of Chappy

[@Njfishingmaniac]

Great video once again John 👍🏼

[@hollyiomollyio7194]

Last year in South Jersey it was a lot of cocktail blues later in the season and I've caught a couple Flounder/Fluke fishing this year.

[@rgonzo1979]

Wow! 2 at a time...I got a little scared lol

[@BStavFishingAndHunting]

This video was fun to watch! We’re seeing some decent sized blues here in Avalon, NJ. I’m heading out either tomorrow or Wednesday for flounder and might toss a spook or spoon out to see if any gators are around.

[@johndiasjr9000]

Hit some monsters in thin water between the forks the other day. Trusty 6' honey stick gifted to me to an old friend, still has the backbone to beat up on gators

[@michaelsimko7694]

Topwater bluefish is my favorite way of fishing here in southwestern CT. Every year starting in the second week of May, big blues start showing up. Topwaters and spoons are the go-to lures at that time. Weakfish are normally caught with spoons while targeting the blues. Once the water has warmed up before the summer solstice, the gators leave before returning around late August. Cocktails and tailors are caught with a variety of different lures between the timelines of the gators, with the occasion of a small freshwater plug getting the attention of those smaller blues instead of a loud topwater or shiny 1 ounce spoon. The environment you're wading in is my favorite, especially during full moon low tides and with the wind cooperating. I get to walk out a ways on flats with a few dips before coming to where it begins to get much deeper. I make sure I carry a boga and have one or two homemade 50 lb floro leaders handy. The August-October bluefish run in 2023 was short-lived. There were only 2-3 weeks of gator madness. The rest of the run was mostly cocktails mixed with tailors no bigger than 6 pounds, but the best action was short-lived. 2022 was a very memorable August-October bluefish run. Blitzing was non-stop almost everyday. I'd see blues darting around right near me while wading, and also see the wakes of blues right near me on calm evenings. I had never caught so many 10+ pound blues in one year, with one being my PB 34" 14 pounder.

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

Thanks for sharing that!

[@brandonteague1190]

Wilmington North Carolina, good bit of blue fish all sizes being caught the last few weeks.

[@watnongmountainadventures430]

Happy to see you get into some awesome bluefish action! This year I’ve seen blues each time I’ve fished the surf (NJ). Typically see at least one good spring session with 20-pound-class fish in the mix. Largest for me was spring of 2021 where two 40-inch fish decided to hit my SP Minnow on almost back-to-back casts. Didn’t see jumbos last year or numbers anything like previous years.

[@mikestarr6634]

Man, you must be finding these secret bluefish in NJ. They haven't consistently been in the surf here for a decade or more.

[@edwinrivera6896]

Your like clock work John

[@richbeebe902]

Big blues on in coming tide. In and around 30 in. Charlestown RI.

[@brianmawdsley7012]

CT. Had a good push of big blues last spring that seemingly vanished from the shoreline come mid June. Boat guys still got them at the race/watch hill etc

[@timrudy4359]

South Jersey. Had about a dozen 3-4lb blue fish while flounder fishing this weekend. All back bay and most I’ve seen in years. Couldn’t stay away from them

[@TheLlamasareboss]

Maine, last summer was the first time they were around in any real capacity in about 10+ years. We’ll see if they come back later in the summer

[@martinsmith2786]

Good video both as to content and length. Not too many blues in the Shrewsbury yet.

[@mlscaramouche]

Great video! We’ve been catching tons of big blues on Eastern LI, using diamond jigs and topwater plugs.

[@jameshill8548]

I know guys out at Barnegat inlet have been getting them from cocktail size to gators in the bay and on the surf, along with stripers.

[@richardwarfield7386]

I live in MD and a week ago they were thick in the surf at AI while I was Striper fishing . Pulled in Blues from 18-27" constantly. Moved my baits alot and busted up a bit of tackle over the 5 days I fished. Ate the last one day before yesterday. I know of some bigger ones caught in surf.

[@Janotes]

We are fortunate to see some blues this year so far here in Raritan Bay.. they've been scarce the last bunch of years..

[@efrainmontero5138]

I was surf fishing raritan bay saturday night we were catching gators 32"plus great video mr skinner i want to try your fishing rods really bad, i do some kayak fishing too may be some day have my chanel, thanks for your videos and keep lines tight!!!!!🎣

[@williamwiant5583]

Here in Ma the blue fish bite has been so so, though they are around just not like they used to be. Tight Lines John.

[@RobertProvencher-b9n]

Narragansett Bay RI has some big blues so far this year. I have had two days in the past week where you could walk across the water on schools of blues.

[@iggalz299]

First blues caught in north jersey may 1st. Gators showed up this weekend and had fish from 4lbs to 14lbs. Waves of yellow eyes. Tight lines.

[@neild2098]

John, I fish the western sound just East off the throgs neck (manhasset, Hempstead, Rye, etc.) and yesterday was the first time in 3 or 4 years that I had bluefish on mojos. Also lost a number of tails on my mullets without even having the pleasure of a hook up. Ratio yesterday was about 50/50 bluefish and bass. Picked up both species on flutter spoons this weekend as well.

[@josephstreet3407]

Buzzards bay in Mass, big bluefish and slot sized bass feeding on sphering. Used small metals and crushed them.

[@1996xela]

I’m In CT right on the border for RI and the gator blues are everywhere right now, hoping they stick around

[@clambosfishingandexploring6379]

Bluefish are in Rhode Island in the upper bays like Greenwich Bay. All 28” and larger and on spearing bait. I’ve done really well on 3.5” to 5” topwater lures catching about a dozen everyday I go out.

[@jimmyc4493]

Im in Rocky Point, I've been on the south shore mostly though. I havent had much luck on the north shore except fluke and porgy. I go from the shore only. Monster blues this year, and so many of them!!

[@forkanst]

I had really good action today right off of Stamford ct harbor some giant blue

[@austingregg2144]

Fishing off Westport, MA over the past number of years, it seems that fewer and fewer Bluefish were apparent - whereas there used to be big pods of marauding school-sized Blues.

[@waynejester3477]

Here in Delaware some blues around the Indian River inlet. But nothing like it used to be. It was nothing to catch 50 blues a day 10 years ago. Now lucky to catch 50 in a season. Offshore a couple shawls are loaded with small blues but no size to them a pound or less.

[@Recyclopps]

The blues showed up May 3rd in Rhode Island for me. Whispers of them leading up to then. Lots of big ones around for a little over a week then it slowed down.

[@GPOldMarineShop]

Been fishing for blues for decades on Long Island always thought the Bunker brought them in to the flats and backbays in the Spring even though you dont have a visual there usually closeby... Glenn

[@stephenfletcher4681]

Nice channel edge...nice feeshes

[@karlneumann6833]

I Fish NY and NJ and NJ has had some great blue fish bites early spring this season still showing strong

[@nickdevereaux7920]

Nj here. Backwater has had them since beginning of the month. Some nice size ones mixed in with cocktail size. Numbers wise better then some previous years but still not the numbers I’m use to. Typically for me this is the month that it should be almost automatic and just about every cast you get hit. Haven’t seen it like that in some time now

[@BlueWilderness239]

Cape Coral, pine Island, Matlacha... I've seen zero... Great videos 🎣🚣‍♂️

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

It's always such a shock when I get one there!

[@EverthingSaltwater]

i live in rhode island and ITS CRAZY WITH BIG BLUE RIGHT NOW

[@tomscarrone3905]

NJ springtime april/may for gator bluefish. 10 pounders in the rivers and raritan bay.

[@ingyham]

Live in Mount Laurel NJ and found some blues in the 24-27” range out front at IBSP today

[@bobgardner5179]

I live in Norfolk, VA. In recent years, including now, I catch mostly medium/ smaller bluefish in the 14-20" range (in-shore fishing). I haven't seen big chopper bluefish like yours in years (decades), although they are caught routinely several miles off of our coast.

[@allprops1]

Im from Jersey blues are heavy up and down beach and bay, Hudson great fighting fish hitting everything

[@TheRwd2]

Port Chester, NY Long Island Sound. Lots of bass, a few blues and very little fluke so far. The water is struggling to get to 60 degrees.

[@ads681]

I fish for snappers (baby bluefish) every september off the dock in Mamaroneck. The last few years have been terrible. The fish are there but, very few.

[@JG-tj8md]

Staten Island. By me in Raritan bay from shore it’s been very sporadic for blues. Last lights out year was 2017 at Staten Island.

[@edryan5249]

I’m in Nc now bluefish been down last few years only get around 1 -3 pounders got a creel limit of three , bigger fish are in the outer banks I’m south in the Wilmington area , sure do miss them eastern Long Island fish. Nice video

[@mikerawls9619]

An oilfield co worker of mine learned the hard way to not land a blue with the thumblock. That was long ago in the Gulf and those 3-4 pounders on bass tackle were fun!

[@waynehallock1263]

Lots of big blue fish on South Fork, LI. I hear Peconic Bay loaded too.

[@sd0753]

I'm in south jersey and never target blues except when we are bored and the opportunity presents. There were more and bigger blues 15 years ago. Each spring you could count in being able to find acres of blues feeding in the bays every day. I haven't seen that level of consistency in years

[@ethanhall9617]

I’m out of Virginia Beach and we are starting to see some larger blues this time of year. One just came in at 30”

[@FishingwithBrewski]

NC and they put a limit on blues now. Only 3/day per person. They have seemingly random migration patterns. About 7-8 years ago we had a few years where we would get the big ones way up in the back of the marshes in March-April.

[@Jerseydom16]

Last year jersey rarely saw bluefish now there back thick like the bass beaches bays you name it

[@davem7709]

You mentioned calendar and tide What tide are you looking for in this scenario? Are these fish coming in from ocean or finning in shallow water digesting meals? Thank you as always and awesome content

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

Tide really doesn't matter much for this bit. For whatever reason, they're on a lot of the flats in mid-May.

[@oldretiredguy983]

The blues have been good in the raritan bay in Jersey

[@SuperQdaddy]

Blues always good fight..im off Brooklyn beaches and not alot of action

[@hevestilmy6635]

SE Florida. Usually bluefish are around in the surf much of the year here, juveniles mostly, bigger fish come in the fall. This year I’ve seen very few, way less than previous years.

[@paulb9376]

I hope the blues are there in another 3 weeks

[@AaronWhite-s1i]

Seems they hit right at the dark/ light line, is that a drop off, hole or just camera angle and reflection? Excellent video as always John!

[@bman2549]

Jersey shore the gators came in about 10 days ago in Manasquan inlet

[@seancurley7954]

Had mid 20s cruising in packs in 9 to12 FOW here in Ct. Paddle tails got the job done

[@bparisi87]

I caught a 31-inch bluefish on May 3rd, trolling from my kayak off of sandy hook point.

[@masterbaiterv2270]

New Jersey. Have had a handful of 40s on top water and mag darters

[@liamhogan1797]

Connecticut bluefishing was relatively consistent last year but spring and fall were definitely high times

[@jacobsnellenberger860]

Where do you go? From shore or off shore?

[@Rziegler95]

Eastern Ct blues, haven’t seen much in New Haven yet

[@amos61905]

Haven’t seen any blues here in Vermont this year, but I’m staying hopeful.

[@ridenfish39]

New Jersey. Lots of smaller blues this year. Very few pushing 10 lbs.

[@yagottabelieve5116]

Love the videos.. Do you mind starting to mention the tide your fishing more frequently in the videos? Either way, videos are great! Keep ‘em coming!! Thanks!!

[@JohnSkinnerFishing]

I don't mention tides because they're so location, species, and time of year dependent.

[@jobino511]

In CT we typically see a slug of big blues in the estuaries in second week of May. They stay for a few weeks and then disappear for a few weeks before showing again in numbers. This year they were a littler earlier but I missed that bite. I did get a big breachway blue in RI a few weeks back. Although ive heard others report suspicions of low numbers last summer and the summer before, for me it seems there is no shortage of em most of the year on this side of the sound.

[@bobbyk3469]

Lot of big aggressive Blues (20-25") and Stripers (all 30"+) near the bridges in Nassau County. Stripers about 2:1 last week.

[@jamesmiceli5610]

Hey John ,I’m from north New Jersey,I found some bass on flats just like this and they would spit up live baby crabs . Had this happen to me on multiple occasions. I think the fish are foraging in the sand and mud or food and be in warm water

[@alecudell2962]

I mean I live in the Westchester Area and we had a great run of bluefish in the fall in my local harbors. Really quality fish on top water in like October and November. However, we never get blues here in the spring I need to drive to LI for that

[@jonthefisherman4879]

NJ coast last week was better than the last two years for blues but I only had 1-5 pounders.

[@Nsurob]

Virginia...bluefish have been small in Norfolk, VA...have not seen 30-40 inch bluefish since 1992

[@mpezzano1]

I live in Greenwich ct and last year was a terrible bluefish year other than a few weeks in mid May.

[@Flushing35]

John your in my spot been fishing there on an off for 45 years set my PB just to the left of you late last June ,16 bass most 18-26 inches one keeper unlike you he went to the grill, keep up the videos 👍✌️

[@johnbrown5870]

Great stuff. Up close too! I caught three gators in Barneagat bay May 4-5. PS. It would be nice if you could comment on what date you are fishing. As viewers we don’t know if you filmed this a month ago and just posted it etc.. thx.

[@michaelross5674]

We used to go out on miss belmar for them that's in Jersey in belmar on shark river

[@stevewolfakaheliarc2696]

Eastern Long Island is a very big place!

[@MrGT500]

I live in mass, the blue fish are massive, they come though in schools on the beach eat and then disappear for a few days and come back

[@georgepress1261]

New Jersey, havnt been fishing much this year, and it killing me lol. But we got them. But the last few years it been hit or miss. Atleast for me