LBI NJ Fishing Report - LBI Surf Fishing, Barnegat Bay & Inlet - LBI's Premier Fishing Report By Fisherman's Headquarters

LBI Fishing Report 5/13/25

The Long Beach Island waters are fishy right now! Our spring run really sped up over the past few days and have delivered. With the full moon behind us, the next few weeks are prime time. My favorite four weeks of the spring are the last two of May and the first two of June. It’s a great time to fish and score a variety of species on the beach and boat.

Here’s my latest fishing report video from Monday afternoon, May 12, 2025…

There’s fish up and down the island. Inlets, bay and front beach all have great fishing opportunities.

Captain Jon Kelly aboard LBI Sportfishing caught this giant 52" striped bass fishing off of Holgate.

Some classy striped bass showed up in the past 5-7 days. One of the largest specimens recently caught was reported in by Captain Jon Kelly aboard LBI Sportfishing. They caught a giant, 52″ striped bass fishing off of Holgate, LBI’s south end. With all of the surf side catches (reports below and loaded on our social media accounts; Facebook & Instagram) now’s the time to work the nearshore waters. There are scattered bunker, a few schools and these baits should come together in the near future.

LBI SURF FISHING

So far this spring run has been really good. It’s stacking up in terms of quality, quantity and variety to last spring which was spectacular. CLAMS remain the top-producing bait in the surf for striped bass and black drum. Bluefish and fluke spiced up the sud more recently (more on that later). The surf side clam jam has been a treat and it’s far from over! Now we have some sour weather (Wednesday) spring fishing to conquer, but Thursday on looks great. The fish are here so it’s go time! There’s presky skates and doggies on the surf too.

More bluefish catches this past weekend showed a wave of bluefish arrived and are here now. Blues are hitting both bait (bunker and mullet) and plugs. Here’s a recent yellow eye caught by Fish Heads Alumni Jack Keating (also from Stack Tackle). Back from college, this was his first spring surf session and got tight on a Stack Tackle Quigley 4.5″ Metal Lip, shown in the photo. He shared, “They wanted the plug!” Stay tuned for the new release Screwy Head Jig drop coming soon!

Fish Heads Alumni Jack Keating (also from Stack Tackle) back from college got tight on a Stack Tackle Quigley 4.5" Metal Lip.

A couple more drum reports today from the suds. “The drum are chewing!” Keith Soycher reported Monday evening. He sent in a drum photo (above) and then a good size bluefish. “I’m still out here! Hopefully I can get a striper and it will make for an epic night!” Both fish were caught on clam. Yup bluefish eat clam… they might eat just about anything.

Spring time surf fishing LBI in the month of May can offer up great fishing for striped bass, bluefish and black drum. In this photo Keith Soycher has a drum and bluefish that he caught on clam.

LBI FLUKE FISHING

The early season fluke-in is a great fishery for both beach and boat anglers. At times the bay has offered up good hauls. Some even better catches were had by land based anglers in recent days. One of many great reports come from Steve George at Night Strikes Guide Service. He checked in a limit catch from the surf and shared, “I had my limit and then released two more keepers!”

Steve George caught his limit+ of good size fluke off the LBI surf. May is a great time to fish for fluke off the Long Beach Island beaches.

FIRST THRESHER SHARK

The first local spring thresher shark report came in from John Beard. He reported, “It’s really awesome when a plan comes together. Soaking bait at 8:40 and hooked up at 9am. Two hours later and it was all over. 220# on the scale.” These powerful inshore big game species are around the local waters May-October and are commonly found around bunker schools.

John Beard caught this 220# thresher shark. These powerful inshore big game species are around the local waters May-October and are commonly found around bunker schools.

NJ’s 2025 BLACK SEA BASS SEASON

On Saturday May 17th the 2025 New Jersey recreational Black Sea Bass season opens with a 12.5″ minimum size and a 10 fish per person possession bag limit. Sea bass fishing is one hella fun fishery and especially fun light tackle jigging. Plus they’re tasty table fair is a fan favorite.

Season Dates: May 17 – June 19, 2025
Size Limit: 12.5″ excluding tail filament
Bag Limit: 10 Fish per person

For more details on the 2025 NJ Fishing Regulations – Here is a helpful source which includes many that the state leaves out.

On Saturday May 17th the 2025 New Jersey recreational Black Sea Bass season opens with a 12.5" minimum size and a 10 fish per person possession bag limit. Sea bass fishing is one hella fun fishery and especially fun light tackle jigging. Plus they're tasty table fair is a fan favorite.

LBI Fishing Report 5/8/25

The bite is on! Not epic blitz fishing but the Long Beach Island surf is producing striped bass and some black drum. We have also heard a couple bluefish reports off of the surf, with many more in the bay. Also the fluke season is off to a great start with many strong reports from beach and boat anglers. Reports have come in from the north end, mid-Island and south end. There’s really not one hot spot. Gear up and fish a cut… It’s go time!

For photos check out our Facebook and Instagram pages. Be sure to follow for notifications on fishing updates. Also be sure to check back on our other recent reports.

LBI Fishing Report 5/7/25

Here’s a quick fishing report morning updated for Wednesday May 7, 2025.

The past two days brought some quality fishing to the waters of LBI with striped bass responding well to bait and lures. I’ve taken full advantage with a couple productive after work trips. Over the past two days, I managed to land a handful of nice bass fishing lures. The water is still cold but creeping up and we’ve had a solid uptick in local action. It’s not full-blown spring mayhem here yet, BUT things are trending in the right direction. There are quality striped bass here right NOW… unders, slots and 15-20-30-40+# class stripers.

Go Fish!!!

1:30PM Live Report Sent In- Jamie Gramley got a pair of striped bass on Tuesday. He reported, “Your clams caught a 23″ and a 30″ bass on the surf.” He’s on the beach today and shared, “Good day today so far! Got two striped bass and also one drum. I also lost something big on a bunker chunk.”

LBI Fishing Report 5/5/25

May Starts Off Strong With Stripers Of All Sizes On The Surf

May kicked off with a bang here on Long Beach Island, as a solid wave of striped bass fired up the spring run. Surf side anglers had an excellent weekend fishing with all size classes, from schoolies to slot fish and some larger ones showing too! Most of the action is from anglers soaking clams and chunking bunker but there are anglers catching working the suds with lures. Fishing is also good in the bay and inlet where both striped bass, bluefish and now fluke are on tap. Anglers also have a slim chance at spring tide runners (weakfish).

Looking ahead, the next few weeks represent prime time for spring striped bass fishing on LBI. May is a great time! This is the window to fish and find some of the season’s best action. Don’t wait for it to get better! Gear up at Fishermans Headquarters Bait & Tackle and get into the action now.

Greg Davis caught this 30″ striped bass off the surf on Sunday plugging. He weighed in for the Spring Surf Fishing Derby and is currently in the lead at 10.14#. More details on the spring tournament

Another plugging surf side report came in from Chris Masino. He shared, “39-40 incher on a Joe Baggs Miracle Minnow! Thank you.” A couple days prior Chris released another nice bass. If you are looking for some of these very effective Fall time lures we have them currently on sale, click the link above. As Chris shows they produce in the spring time too!

Heather and Pat reported a nice weekend fishing the beaches of LBI. “We had ourselves a nice weekend and we are about to have an even better dinner!” Below is one of Heather’s bass and one of Pat’s.

LBI Fishing Report 4/30/25 – LBI Surf Wakes Up As April Wanes

As April ends, the Long Beach Island fishing fires up! The surf has come alive recently with striped bass hitting clam and bluefish have arrived in our waters.

This morning we got a report from Matt Compitello not long after leaving the shop with fresh clam. Sunrise striper on the surf!

Some other recent surf side striped bass reports came in from Greg Davis who got a nice over slot striped bass and also Mike Richter’s about 40″ below.

The active black drum bite has simmered down in the bay, but there’s a good shot that we’ll see another wave of them. Will they hit the surf like last year? Got to be fishing the surf to find out.

The past couple of days a handful of bluefish reports have come in from the bay, inlet and surf. Off the surf you’ll want to fish mullet, bunker or lures for the yellow eyes. The Jetty Jockies shared this bluefish catch photo yesterday that fell for a No Live Bait Needed.

Tom Zaboroski Jr caught a 23.75″ bluefish on frozen mullet this past weekend during the American Anglers Surf Fishing Tournament. In addition to Tom’s catch, there was one small striped bass and a blowfish pulled in. With the rough conditions and lack of catches Tom won over $2k in prizes.

Today is the last day of New Jersey’s one month spring Blackfish / Tautog / Tog fishing season. For the most part the water was cold and the weather was windy. There were some windows, but just like last year the final 7-10 days were the best of it.

As one season closed another opens… this Sunday May 5th is opening day for NJ Fluke Fishing! For a full overview of the 2025 NJ Recreational Fishing Regulations, Seasons, Size & Bag Limit Laws… Here’s a chart I’ve updated and compiled for many years which the state’s “attention angler” graphic leaves out and I also include the hard to find ones too. Most Google and AI searches pull up bad results! You’ve been warned. Printable PDF Here

Tune in now to my latest fishing report update video from Monday. Please drop a comment with your report or latest catches. LBI Fishing Report 4/28/25 – LBI Surf Wakes Up As April Wanes: Striped Bass, Drum & Blues Are Here!

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more updates.

Hi Flier Open Boat Stripers and Tog

Just put the boat in the water last week. Getting her all loaded with gear and ready to fish.

We usually start out hunting the west side of the bay for stripers. Casting soft plastics and trolling plugs on spinning rods are our go-to methods. All the while looking for bird play and bait. A few more degrees and there should be some blues in the mix.

Next, we head to the inlet, where we will be casting lures and using bait for stripers. Even though we are targeting bass, we usually hammer away at the blackfish on the bait.

Open Boat and Charter trips will be departing at 6AM and returning at 11AM Wed April 30, Thurs May 1, and Fri May 2. After Fri May 2, our next availability will be Mon May 12. By then we will be targeting blues on topwater lures in the back bay, as well. Open Boat: $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared. Charter rates are available on our site: hiflier.com

Thank you,

Dave

Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

LBI Fishing Report 4/22/25

The spring fishing season here in the Long Beach Island region is good with anglers catching a few different species in a variety of locations. It’s great to see fishing in the region stretching out. Here’s my latest fishing report video from yesterday…

LBI Surf Fishing Report

On the surf, the ocean is cold 46-47º but it’s creeping up. Once that warming trend gives us 48-50º things will pop. Yesterday afternoon we heard of the first direct report with a photo of a surf side striped bass. It was caught by Ship Bottom Beach Patrol’s Tom Smith. He puts a lot of time fishing all year long and it pays off! Congrats Tommy!!! His photo is included in the fishing report video thumbnail above, but his report came in after the video was published so it didn’t make the cut.

The LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament is underway. Sign up now and participate in this fun spring fishing event. There are prizes for striped bass and also the largest bluefish. There’s also a catch and release division. More info here.

Barnegat Bay – Manahawkin Bay – Great Bay Fishing Report

In the bay, striped bass and black drum are the two primary games. At times the bite has been excellent. Both of these are taking clams in a many different areas from the Island’s west side street ends, bulkheads, bay beaches and sod banks to the mainland’s many public access points. Bloodworms are also a great bait for striped bass as well as winter flounder (no reports but now’s the time to target them). As the waters are finally back up from another round of chill, striped bass on artificals has improved.

Late April and May offer great light tackle striped bass in the bay.

The black drum fishing since this past full moon (4/12) has been good. They tend to trend in waves and the prime days/tides were outstanding. In the fishing report video thumbnail above you’ll find team Fish Head staff Max (left) and Tyler (right) each with big drum they recently caught and release fishing clam on the bayside at night.

Barnegat Inlet Fishing Report

At the Barnegat Light State Park, Barnegat Inlet tautog (tog – blackfish) are on tap. Fishing is not epic but it is an opportunity to take advantage of while the season is open. It’s only open for the month of April, 4 fish bag at a 15″ minimum. [Soon striped bass, bluefish and fluke will spice up the scene!]

Fishing crabs (green crabs, mole crab – sand fleas) on a simple single hook rig or a tog jig around the rock jetty and/or bulkhead to score. Anglers working the inshore wrecks and reefs are also catching. The bite has been on the slow side due to unseasonably cold ocean waters but there’s fish to catch. We expect the water to warm and the fishing to improve just like last year. The last stretch of the season is always the best.

Looking ahead, the weather looks good for the next few days. It’s time to get out and fish.

We are looking forward to some bluefish showing up and also summer flounder fishing season kicking off May 4th!

Fish Head Alumni Sam scored a good day on the water flounder fishing where he lived now in Virginia. He reported, “Here in VA the flounder season is open all year. I got out and caught 22 with 8 keeper size. All on Gulp and minnow. The bite was best on the outgoing tide’s warmer water.” Can’t beat that for a first trip of the year! I can’t wait for my first flounder trip of 2025.

Fish Head regular Joe Handley is down in OBX and scored some fun fishing with bluefish. Hey Joe, once you get your fill, please send some up this way!

We are back!

Sorry about the hiatus. GoDaddy sent me on a wild goose chase. It all started back in August and has been a lingering. Finally it’s all cleared up and I expect smooth sailing from here on out. My apologizes.

Hopefully you all follow us on social media…

And if not already done… Please subscribe to our YouTube channel for updated fishing report videos. Jump over there now! Here’s my most recent fishing report video…

Before jumping into the fishing report, I must mention a few announcements…

We extended our hours as the spring fishing season is well underway. We open daily at 6am. Monday thru Thursday we close at 7pm. On Friday and Saturday we stay open until 8pm and on Sunday we close early at 6pm.

Premium Baits In Stock – For the holiday weekend we have a smorgasbord of the premium baits… Live bloodworms, live surf clam, live green crabs, live eels. We had both live minnow and live sand fleas but sold out, hoping to get more soon. AND this week we packed our one walk in freezer with quality offshore baits. We have Baitmaster ballyhoo both rigged and unrigged, as well as some new rigged swordfish baits; rigged eels, rigged squid and rigged tentacles. You gotta check these out! They are all sitting pretty at -10°. Every year we sell out so now’s a good time to pick up some packs.

LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament – For all of those surf fishing anglers… the LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament (formally the Simply Bassing event) is running until June 22nd. The event is $20 to sign up and there are prizes for striped bass (first, second, third largest) and bluefish (largest).

LBI Fishing Report April 18, 2025

The weather broke open and the fishing in the bay kicked into another gear this week. Striped bass and drum are chewing in many spots around the Barnegat Bay, Manahawkin Bay and Great Bay. These two can be targeted by land based anglers or via boat. For the black drum fish whole surf clams. Anglers are catching stripers fishing live bloodworms, clam and on lures.

The surf has been empty with the cold surf (~46º) but we expect some action in the coming days as the waters warm up a few degrees. We heard about one small surf side striped bass. It’s a start. Once the surf hits 48º and then 50º and remains there, we will be rocking!

Striped Bass Fishing Report

The bays and rivers are where the action is right now. For timing, the best is fishing the warmer outgoing tide and preferably on a sunny afternoon. When the tide and weather line up, these days are best. This time last year fish were present in the LBI suds. Anyday and the surf will be turning on!

Bloodworms are still a great bait and CLAM is producing too. For more help with fishing these soft baits check out these tips and tricks – How To Fish A Worm Ball…

Black Drum Fishing Report

A nice push of black drum arrived on the full moon last weekend. We’ve had a number of nice reports. There are many different areas that can be fished both on the LBI bayside as well as the west side of the bay and Great Bay areas. Last night store staffer Max got a big one fishing clams. He shared, “The Magictail 9′ rod paired with the new Quantum Strive 5ooo was awesome. It handled the dinosaur with no problem. The reel outperforms it’s price point.” Fish Heads alumni Erik was soaking some bait for bass and got a good size drum a couple days back. Also store staffer Tyler has been into drum on a number of trips this past week.

Black Drum Love Surf Clam!

Tautog Fishing Report

The first half of April’s tog season was not stellar. Cold windy weather dominated the schedule. With the better sea conditions and a settling ocean the wreck report are improving. Tony Butch and Fish Head’s alumni Bill Bassant were on the water today and caught their two man limit. We heard other reports of good fishing but no reports of big tog. Let’s see how the rest of the month plays out. We are looking forward to the second half of this April’s tog season to be better than the first half and just like last year… hammer time on the back stretch.

Land based tog fishing is only getting better too as the water warms and the fish become more active. Jared Zaum reported that he caught two tog fishing the Inlet rocks today, “One 15.5″ and the other 16.5″ – The Magictail 8′ 1-4oz rod matched up on the Tsunami SaltX-2 4000 is great.” He just received it yesterday from UPS and is already putting it to use. That’s what we like to see!

White Perch

Rivers and select lagoons have perch on tap. A number of customers have reported great fun fishing for white perch in the Mullica River. The last couple weeks of April is when a white perch bite materializes in select lagoons in the area.

Winter Flounder Fishing Report

Fishing reports of winter flounder are few and far between, but now is the time to target them. This somewhat of a lost fishery has little to no participation in recent years. Maybe it’s the regulations or maybe it’s the style of fishing.

We are hopeful that some bluefish and weakfish show soon.

Here’s another recent fishing report video.

The Bloodworm Bait Blog

There’s no better bait for early spring (March & April) striped bass fishing than large live bloodworms. As a matter of fact, bloodworms are a great bait for many different species and work great in other times of the season too. An angler would be hard pressed to find a species of fish that doesn’t eat bloodworms. These slender juicy baits are like candy to fish. They are easy to digest which makes them a cold water comfort food.

But as anglers know the quality large size bloodworms are expensive and at times hard to get. Let’s take a dive into the topic of bloodworms.

What Is A Bloodworm?

Glycera is the common name for a bloodworm, in the group of polychaetes (bristle worms), that are pink/pale red, blood filled worms. The bloodworms anglers are used to fishing are more specifically Glycera dibranchiata. These carnivorous marine worms have a shooting proboscis (extending tubular sucking mouth) with four fangs/jaws and venom.

Live bloodworms are excellent baits for saltwater fishing!

Where Do The Baits Come From?

Bloodworms live in the mud tidal waters of Maine and the Canadian Maritime. The majority of bloodworms that bait and tackle shops sell are harvested in the state of Maine and sold through distributers to bait and tackle shops. Worm diggers gather worms working the tidal flats at low tide, using small hand rakes to over turn the mud. The worms are then hand picked one by one from the mud and put into a pail. Worm diggers sell to bait wholesalers that distributors to bait and tackle shops. Worm digging is a “Down East” generational way of life, but that is that’s changing. More on that later…

Storing & Caring For Bloodworms

Heat, humidity and direct sunlight is detrimental to bloodworms. They must be kept cold and moist. A cooler with ice is ok but don’t keep them on the ice. Bloods are best kept in a fridge at 36-40º, in a shallow wide dish/container with a splash of seawater (saltwater, but never salted tap water). Worms kept this way must be washed/rinsed one to two times daily. Yes it’s a hassle, but they can live a month or more if properly cared for. Try to handle as little as possible. White or washed out and especially hemorrhaging or dead worms must be culled and removed immediately. One dead worm can ruin the rest.

Bloodworms are commonly shipped and sold with worm-weed (sea weed, rockweed) and that is only used as a protective packaging material for transit and holding. They are usually happy in this bed for up to a week, but worm-weed is not necessary to their survival and damp newspaper will suffice. Remember bloodworms live in the mud, not sea weed.

Invasive species hitchhiking in the worm-weed from Maine can bring problems to other areas when anglers do not disposed of the weed properly.

Put in the trash!

Never toss into the water!

More On Bloodworms

Worm diggers are part of Maine’s coastal heritage, battling the harsh weather and working long hours. It’s concerning that the industry is fading. One worm wholesaler shared with me, “Right now we are the last generation in Maine. Most of us are older and there’s not much young blood getting involved in the bloodworm industry. On top of that, the harvest has not been great.”

Live bloodworms are commonly shipped and sold with worm-weed, but it is not necessary to their survival.

Bloodworm Issues

Every angler in New Jersey knows that bloodworms are expensive baits and they are not always easy to get. Just like everything else in the world it comes down to supply and demand. But there are some other issues too.

Biological Sensitive

First off bloodworms are highly vulnerable species due to their biological sensitivity. They are also consistently inconsistent and cyclical like many other fisheries.

Weather & Tides

As with all fishing/harvesting the weather plays an important role. With regards to digging worms, the tide is very important. Lower tides during daylight hours offer good times to dig and flood tides during the day or high water for prolonged periods are poor. Bad cycles mean poor yield, resulting in shortages.

2024 was a rough one. It started off really bad for Maine. Two large, powerful, long duration storms crushed the state with heavy rain and powerful winds. The damage to coastal communities and the working waterfronts are still recovering and will take years to rebuild. How much of an effect this has on the availability of bloodworms is unknown. It surly didn’t help! So far 2025 has been better storm wise but the cold spring early did help.

Pollution

Pollution from runoff is a major issue for worms on the mudflats of Maine. There are many risks that worms face; water discharged from power generation facilities, sewage plant, treatment/water treatment facilities, chlorine discharge and runoff containing herbicide/pesticides. All of these and others have a negative impact on worms and worm larvae survival.

Climate Change

“In the past couple we’ve years seen the temperatures increase a couple degrees” a 60 year worm veteran shared. This document from NOAA outlines the risks and there sensitivity to climate change.

Habitat Destruction

Muscle dredging into the high water areas rips up the seed beds. If you destroy habitat, you can’t expect a fishery to exist. One digger shared, “There are many areas that use to produce, but these areas are now void of bloodworms. However there are other areas that were never any good and they are producing. Things change!”

In Conclusions

As we see, bloodworms face a complex set of issues.

The past couple of years the bloodworm bait business has been tricky. Fortunately we work closely with a few long term suppliers in order to keep the price and quality under control. Last year we reduced our margin to hold the retail price from further increased. We continue to hold the line in 2025 despite the elevated prices and inconsistent size batch to batch.

As a retail bait and tackle shop established in 1962 we strive to offer our customers the best baits, at the best prices.

A Maine mud flat at low tide with a few worm diggers working in the background.

Striped Bass On Worms & Tog Is Open – April 1st Fishing Report Update

April is finally here and we are looking forward to the great fishing this month offers each year! Here’s a fishing report update for the Long Beach Island area and surrounding waters for April 1, 2025.

LBI Local Fishing Info

We’re seeing good striped bass action in the back bays, primarily on live bloodworms. Jack and Sandy stop in daily for two dozen jumbo bloodworms and they are catching. The last we heard Sandy’s weekly catch is up to 7 bass. She got a couple today. Store staffer Emmitt said he caught and released 7 on his last trip out. All on bloods. All of these catches come with time. It’s not going to happen on a 10 minute soak. Gotta put your time in to earn it.

We heard rumors of one black drum that was recently caught. This might be the start! Another black drum whispers came from the Delaware Bay region. Hopefully, they’ll make a strong appearance here soon, mirroring last year’s incredible clam bite in Barnegat Bay during April and May.

BAIT: We are working on getting fresh clams… Currently we have live bloodworms and live green crabs in stock.

Tog (blackfish) season opened today April 1st, offering one month of tog fishing.

We heard from Keith Soycher who tried out tog fishing on his lunch break. He caught one blackfish. Expect the action at the jetty to ramp up as the water temperature rises.

Did you see our Instagram post today? Opening day tog fishing was a surprise for one angler. The water is a little too cold for an active tog bite on the Barnegat Light Rocks, but look what Johnny-Jock caught! This Atlantic Wolffish took a live green crab on a Magictail Tog Jig. These toothy unique cold water sea creatures are overfished and must be released. Local authorities are asking anglers to remain calm and not attempt to chum with vending machine snacks in hopes they will attract more to the area. Happy April, folks. April Fools!

Current Water Temperatures & Conditions

The surf temperature along LBI are right around 44-45°F. It’s a beautiful day today with lots of sun and a breezy west wind. There’s residual swell in the 2-4′ range from yesterday’s front/storm. In the bay, most areas are in the mid 50ºF, some areas upper 50’s in the afternoon outgoing tides. The usual early-season spots in Great Bay, Toms River and LBI’s back bay are great places to focus.We are getting good reports of anglers catching striped bass with bloodworms. We heard rumors of one black so we hope this is the start. The rivers are also on fire, with the Delaware River seeing some impressive striped bass, including fish in the upper 30+ and 40+ inch range. We anticipate the action in Barnegat Bay to ramp up in the coming weeks.

Tips for Spring Fishing:

Striped Bass Fishing Spring Tips:

Bring patience! Early-season striped bass fishing requires perseverance.
Fish the outgoing tides, especially in the afternoons when the water is warmer.
Focus on areas with water temperatures at or greater than 50°F.
Use live bloodworms or a mix of live and Dynabait Freeze-Dried Bloodworms
Add scent, such as Fin-Essence Scents are some of the best!
Consider using a worm ball with a mesh bag to protect your bait from perch.

Tog Fishing Spring Tips:

Tog fishing is a great option when looking to target a species that offers dependable (not all of the time, it is still fishing) action, especially as the water warms.
Fish live green crabs near structure; inshore / mid-shore wrecks and reefs as well as land based rocky areas (inlet jetties)
In the spring many tog anglers choose to use soft baits like clam because it’s known that tog can have soft mouths in the spring time. We have no trouble catching tog on live green crabs each April. Also have plenty of customers asking for white crabs each April too. They are hard baits and hard to come by especially in the spring, so to each his own. It doesn’t matter until it does.

Bait and Other Observations

A commercial friend reported seeing lots of gannets and herring a few miles off the LBI so it’s great to hear these prime spring baits are present and on the move. We hope to see bunker school up in the next month or so. Our fingers are crossed, come May schools of bunker will have bass blasting on top! Until then, the bay and rivers are the places to be.

Expect the Long Beach Island surf fishing to spark up in the next couple of weeks. Typically around Easter and especially when the water hits 50°F the suds come alive.

Fisherman’s Headquarters Updates

We got a limited custom run of Salty Degenerate custom wood lures in this week. Must stop in to get a chance at these beautiful fish slaying hand crafted lures.

Here is a link if you want to participate in the Salty D Lure Giveaway.

This spring stop by Fisherman’s Headquarters for all your bait and fishing tackle needs. We’re open seven days a week. You can also shop online at FishermansHeadquarters.com. Hope to see you soon… Tight Lines!