After a stretch of cold nasty weather and even pulling the boat for a couple days due to the formidable forecast we were back out by Friday to find the stripers waiting for us.

Who’s looking forward to the spring bluefish bonanza?

We are prep’d and ready for the yellow eye invasion. Are you? Now’s the time to address minute tackle needs like rod and reel repair service as well as tackle organization. If you need guidance or assistance stop by and say hello. We are open everyday for your convenience. 
Here’s a batch of photos from some awesome anglers enjoying the great fishing that went down last spring. Hopefully all of our fishing blog readers got into that amazing fishing!

Hello Everyone,

The Hi Flier will begin fishing on the weekend of April 29/30, as well as Monday, May 1. Really hoping those gator bluefish invade Barnegat Bay again as they did in 2015 and 2016. It’s hard to beat that action with 12 to 20 pound blues in four feet of water on surface lures. Last year we had them by the end of April and we caught them all the way to June 1. 2016 was also the first season in a long time that I had successful clamming for stripers in the bay. It also started late April, and produced through all of May. The big surprise was the size of the fish, 12 to 15 pounders with some over 20. In years past, our average fish was 8 to 10 pounds. If you take away the cold blast we just had it really was a mild winter with Jan/Feb being very timid, it has all the signs of an early or at least “on time” start.

The new Hi Flier is a 25 ft World Cat with twin Honda 130 Four Strokes. I am setting my sights on the blue water a little more this year. In particular, the boat will be in Ocean City, MD from June 30 to July 10 sailing every day for yellowfin and bluefin tuna. Last year Masseys Canyon was on fire for the entire month of July with 30 to 60 pound yellowfin and 75 to 150 pound bluefin, all mixed together…….on the chunk!! Any way you can catch a tuna is exciting but day chunking is as good as it gets. I got down there twice last year on a friend’s boat and connected both times. We sailed 40 miles from Cape May and I thought that was close. When I plugged the coordinates in on a chart, we were fishing 25 miles off of Ocean city, MD. So I rented a house with a boat slip and we are going to hit it hard those first 10 days of July. If for some reason the tuna don’t show up at Massey’s Canyon again (they will), it’s only 55 to 60 miles to the nearest canyons for tuna, billfish, wahoo, mahi….C’mon!

Finally, as some of you may or may not now, I launched a brand of fishing apparel last winter: Psyquatic. We will have our full line of apparel on display at the Salt Water Fishing Expo in Somerset, NJ this weekend starting tomorrow (Fri), March 17-19. T-Shirts, long sleeve, performance (quick dry), and hooded sweatshirts in four designs: Psyquatic Logo, Striper on Darter, Yellowfin Tuna on Squid, Mako on Mahi. You could also see them at psyquatic.com We are in corner booth 312 and will have both Psyquatic and the Hi Flier on display. Stop by and say “Hey”.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on board.

Attached pics:
Dave DeGennaro with 100 pound Bluefin chunked at Masseys Canyon last season.
The new Hi Flier, 25 ft World Cat.
Psyquatic display at show.

Capt. Dave DeGennaro
Hi Flier Sportfishing
732.330.5674
www.hiflier.com

What started out as an early “spring” from the winter slumber its now bounced back and old man winter reared that ugly head. With winter storm Stella, a powerful nor’easter, bearing down on us thoughts of spring seem so far away. Let’s hope the progress doesn’t rewind too far. The Worm Moon of March will soon have the fish and birds snapping all spring long.

Since all we are left with is that short taste until the real transition comes, here’s some recent reports…

Chris Bender stopped in the shop today and reported having some fun at the recent shows. He said that he scored some awesome tackle at Asbury and Berkeley. Chris said his spring was progressing great, “I just started catching fish outside of the hold over spots. There were lots of smallies holding over. I finally found some better size bass slurping small bait. They were gulping bucktails. Unfortunately the cold snap slowed things down. Hopefully this winter storm doesn’t put the emergency breaks on.”

Cody Schmutz got into some nice fish the other night with his buddy Austin Pounds. Cody posted a photo of a nice bass (see below) and captioned, “Here’s one of many more to come this season!” Austin was in the shop today and said he is looking forward to fishing tonight with the boyz. “We are heading out to try our luck before the storm. We are hoping the linesiders are hungry and on the chew.”

Worms are awesome spring time baits! Early season species like striped bass, winter flounder and perch can’t resist them. Are the price and quality of live worms an issue? Try out Dyna Bait, the freeze dried 100% all natural sustainable farm raised worms. We stock both bloodworm and sandworms, $5.49 a pack! Stop by and check them out or buy online. 

And away we go! Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters has hit the ground running with our first trip of the 2017 fishing season scoring over 30 stripers in just a quick 2 hour scouting session!

Everyone should be very happy that we have DEP commissioner Bob Martin on our side! Martin is ready to fight and support our way of life as well as the economy. He showed up in a big way at the summer flounder fishery rally in late January. Now he is taking action to address the ongoing Little Egg Inlet shoaling hazard. Best of all!!! There’s talk that the Inlet’s sand will be used to rebuild the Island’s beaches. It’s a win, win.

Here’s an article about the topic by Dan Radel of the Asbury Park Press published March 9, 2017…

“State Prepares Plan To Dredge Little Egg Inlet”

The state Department of Environmental Protection said it will act to get Little Egg Inlet open in time for the summer. The sand build up in the inlet has gotten to the point where the U.S. Coast Guard removed the navigational buoys Monday, effectively making the inlet an enter at your own risk affair for boaters.

“This situation has become critical so we are moving forward, using state money, to dredge the channel and make it safe again for everyone who needs this vital access for fishing and recreation,” DEP commissioner Bob Martin said. “We need to take action to get this channel dredged for the safety and enjoyment of the public this summer season.”

The DEP announced Thursday it plans to expedite a project that will clear dangerous shoals from the Inlet, a major thoroughfare for boat traffic between southern Long Beach Island and Brigantine to the south.

The sand will be used to replenish beaches on portions of southern Long Beach Island lost to storms over the past several months.

The DEP’s Division of Coastal Engineering is developing the permit applications, design plans and contract specifications with the expectation of going out to bid for the multimillion-dollar project next month.

One of the widest ocean inlets in New Jersey, Little Egg Harbor Inlet is a natural inlet with no jetty structure to stabilize it. It is extremely dynamic, with shoals constantly shifting with the seasons. It is a federally marked waterway but the inlet has never been dredged, according to the state. Instead, the Coast Guard every year used buoys to mark the deepest and safest natural route through the inlet, which provides connections to the Little Egg Harbor portion of Barnegat Bay, Great Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Charter boat captain Lindsay Fuller of the June Bug docks in Beach Haven and said the inlet is a continuing victim of Hurricane Sandy. He said sand has moved routinely from along Long Beach Island’s beaches down to clog up the Inlet but the Hurricane hurried things up.He said the situation is putting at risk the Beach Haven charter fishing industry.

The project will focus on shoaling of sand that has taken place on the ocean side of the inlet. The Coast Guard-marked channel in this area has at times extended as far as a mile into the ocean.

An estimated 1 million to 1.5 million cubic yards of sand will be dredged to create a channel that is 25 feet below mean sea level.

The project, which will require U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits, will be designed to have negligible to no impact on the nearby Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge or migrations of fish.

The sand will be used on beaches on southern Long Beach Island that sustained erosion as the result of storms since the completion last year of a major beach fill and dune project.

~ Dan Radel

www.app.com/story/sports/outdoors/fishing/hook-line-and-sinker/2017/03/09/states-prepares-plan-dredge-little-egg-inlet/98946136/

John Del Sordo recently found some winter flounder action in Barnegat Bay. Now’s the time to chum ’em up. 

With the official opening of back bay striper fishing and the recent warm temperatures I had to get out and try even if it was not on board the Debbie M. I hit a local hot spot at dusk today, and by the amount of trucks I thought the bite was going to be on fire. It was not. I managed to land my first striper of 2017 A cute short that absolutely inhaled a BKD. Saw three other fish landed before total darkness.

On the nature side of things: American Woodcocks were out in full force at dusk. It is a somewhat common bird in the correct habitat but seldom seen because of its camouflage. During this time of year at dawn or dusk, the males show off for females by giving loud, nasal peent calls and performing dazzling aerial display. It’s pretty cool if you get a chance to see it.

I am starting to fill in dates for the April / May Bass- Bluefish run so contact me soon if you would like to secure a day on the water. If this year’s spring bluefish run is anything like the last two years you do not want to miss out on the world class action Barnegat Bay has to offer,screaming drags

Capt. Alex

www.LighthouseSportfishing.com

Barnegat Bay, NJ

609-548-2511

You Tube Channel: Fishing Barnegat Bay