First trip of the year Sunday with John Morley from Manahawkin and his 10 year old son Jack. Going into my fourteenth year of guiding I made a promise to myself to try some areas that I have not fished in a while and to target a new species (have to wait for summer to see if I keep that promise). Well out of the gate first cast Jack get a schoolie striper! Well that was the kiss of death on that bite, because during the next 40 minutes we landed only a 2 pound blue. We fished a spot I have not fished by boat since 1986. Even with that I think the change of spots paid off, and I plan on taking more of my clients there in the future. After that we were in search of gator bluefish and they did not let us down. Blues from 10-12.5 pounds on poppers and swimmers in shallow water. World class action folks. The bite was slower than normal but no complaints with the results. Here is a picture of Jack with the 12.5 lb. blue. I have Wednesday and Thursday (May 3rd & 4th) available for magic hour trips and then the next available date is one (1) spot for open boat Monday May 8th Magic hr trip . May dates are filling in fast so let me know if you want me to hold one for you. Remember I do offer fly-fishing as an option and with the monster blues in the shallows there is no better time than now to fly-fish the bay.

On the nature side of things: I am totally psyched for the World Series of Birding next Saturday, May 6th. Here is my teams page the LBIF Ospreys.  To date I have raised over $1,000 for LBIF and Fisherman Headquarters was one of my pledges. Thanks again Greg!  My team and I have been scouting breeding birds locations every available minute we have. For some, like myself, this competition is not just pick up a pair of binoculars and look for some birds. It takes countless hours of scouting out birds right before the big day. And if you know where a certain hard to find species of bird can be found it is not good enough. You need a backup location, and maybe a backup to your backup. This is serious stuff and I want to bring home the first place cup. Wish me luck come this Saturday.

Screaming drags and clear binoculars,

Capt. Alex
Barnegat Bay, NJ
609-548-2511

Author: Lighthouse-Sportfishing

Fishing Barnegat Bay for close to 40 years, Capt. Alex runs Barnegat Bay's premier light tackle and fly fishing service with his custom 203 Dusky Center Console (Debbie M). He knows the back bay, inlet or inshore like no other. 609-548-2511 View all posts by Lighthouse-Sportfishing