By Jim Hutchinson Sr.

As spring finally starts to arrive, the fishing action in the Beach Haven area continues to heat up. Several captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association have been putting their time in on the water and coming up with some positive results.

Captain Gary Dugan of “Irish Jig Sportfishing” usually will pull the plug when weather conditions make it too uncomfortable for his anglers. On a recent trip, he termed it “like an episode of Deadliest Catch.” The group had to take the trip that day or no trip at all. Captain Gary managed to find some protected areas of Great Bay and provided them with some action on big bluefish.

Captain Tom Masterson had a great day on the bay with the Pat Lavanga party aboard Captain Carl Sheppard’s “Starfish” with bluefish being the request of the day. The group had some great action catching 15 big bluefish trolling Rebels and spoons between the inlet and Great Bay.

Captain Matt Curtis of “Olbarney Guide Service” reports “crummy” weather slowing action down a bit but when he can get out he has managed a good mix of keeper striped bass and black drum to 35-pounds in the bay. Outside the inlets, he hears the striped bass bite is underway a little north of Beach Haven with 30-40-pound bass taking Mojos and spoons. Last Sunday he had a bay trip that had non-stop action on big dog fish and plenty of blues along with a 50-pound drum that was released. He managed to pick up one 28-inch striper that made its way into the fish box.

Captain Jimmy Zavacky of the “Reel Determined” and Captain Ray Lopez of the “Miss Liane” will be donating their time on June 3 to participate in a fishing event for “Project Healing Waters.” Sponsored by the Holiday Beach Club in Waretown, this is a day of fishing for injured veterans. Both captains are to be commended for their efforts to pay back to those who have served our country.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net

For the most part the local troll bite has been quality with some really nice fish coming up. We’ve got the spring’s largest fish here now!!! Go fish! Randy Townsend got a good one on the troll yesterday. He was working the waters off IBSP when this large striped bass ate a Tony Maja #4 two-tone green bunker spoon.

Reports from this morning were slow; however, Jeff Warford went out this afternoon and found them. He got a good one among others pulling spoons.

Looks like another wave of bluefish flooded our area. Yesterday afternoon we got some great reports of medium to large size blues. The racers are in the bay, inlet and the surf. We got positive reports from the mid-bay yesterday and the Inlet late in the day. The surf was good in the afternoon too on both bait and lures. Blake and I went out for a couple hours last night looking for bass, only pulled blues. I pushed back out in the morning and went on the search but couldn’t find bass. Stumbled on some small packs of bunker deep. Snagged a couple but no takers. Ended up trolling around for an hour or so then resorted to Plan B, the Inlet. Hammered the blues on lures. Among the mediums, I managed to get a couple good size teen gators fishing an extra large pencil popper. The schools of blues racing around the popper and the hooked fish was cool.

Fluke…
They are here! Ed Sisson was recently fishing the surf and had his bunker chunk inhaled by a 22″ fluke. It must have hurt to let it go! 

On the fluke front, we’ve got a lot of emails and calls asking about the fluke regulations. After this past weeks fluke meeting, the NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin approved, the measures for NJ’s recreational summer flounder fishery. There’s only one speed bump or potential brick wall, the Commerce Department, but a little birdie says they aren’t planning on stopping it. So here it is, as confirmed via email from the NJ Fish & Wildlife email…

The 2017 NJ Summer Flounder “Fluke” Recreational Regulations…

For all NJ coastal waters:
18-inch minimum size limit
3-fish possession limit
Open season May 25 through September 5

For Delaware Bay and tributaries:
17-inch minimum size limit
3-fish possession limit
Open season May 25 through September 5

For Island Beach State Park (Shore Mode only)
16-inch minimum size limit
2-fish possession limit
Open season May 25 through September 5

The Jersey coast is alive with bass and blues showing daily in the ocean and bay. The recent south winds did not offer perfect conditions but anglers worked through it and produced catching quality bass and bluefish. They are being caught from both the beach and the boat. We anticipate this to continue with prime time Jersey Shore fishing the next four weeks. Here’s some recent reports…

The surf has blues and bass cruising the suds. Anglers are catching fishing bait and lures. The bass seem to be getting larger (upper 40″ range) and the blues seem to be getting smaller but there are some racers mixed in. Sloane Endick got this bass of the LBI surf recently.

Store staffer Kelley went out after work yesterday and found some life in the dark. He locked into a good size bluefish on a NorthBar Bottle Darter.
Click here to buy Northbar Bottledarter Lures

Store staffer Dan D plugged for a couple hours in the evening. He found some bass plugging. He reported, “Who needs a boat when you can smoke them on the beach… persistence pays off. My exploring trip paid off big time.” Here’s his biggest.

The troll bite has been a slow pick but at times there’s signs of greatness. A couple have picked up fish live-lining too. Dan Rosetto got this one on the troll yesterday. He reported, “There’s bunker around. By the by weekend the snag might be good, if there isn’t 1000 boats blowing them apart.” We got a nice bunker delivery yesterday from our local gill net boat and news from them was sweet and sour. “Lots of bunker patches stretched along LBI and IBSP. There was an active whale the other day. The reduction fleet seine boats are actively working and pounding the bait.” Let’s hope they meet their quota quickly, skip town and there’s some bunkers left for the bass to set up and feed on.

Jeff Warford went out on the bay for an afternoon-evening session yesterday. He reported the blues were thick and active. “They were good size ones and lots of them chewing hard! We crushed them on plugs.” I was stoked to hear Jeffie got out and had a safe and successful trip. Our last outing wasn’t. Getting hooked while on the dock loading up puts a damper on a trip really quick. Thanks to Dr. Todd for the emergency help!!!

Eight year old Wyatt Spalding weighed in a 11.36 pound bluefish yesterday.

A local angler Tom shared this report, “I fished the inlet and it was kind of a dud. Not the usual elbow to elbow lineup and only a small handful of fish to be had. This certainly has not been the epic season as it’s been the past few years. None the less the weather was perfect and the smell of salty air makes it all good.”

Had Jon Tony and Dale out today for some snag and drop.  Kind of slow and bait was tough to find but we got 1 43 pounder not bad for Dales first striper . Give me a call if you want to go out 8563416562 or look up laura Sportfishing on Facebook 

The big bass are here and we plan on targeting them by artificials, live bait, and trolling.  I have been pretty busy with my son’s baseball schedule with less time on the water, but that is changing as his season is winding down.  With that, I was able to squeeze a last minute opening for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.  With favorable ocean conditions, we would most likely plan on fishing for Ocean Striped Bass, but working the inlet is also an option.

If interested, please call/text 609-290-7709 or book through the website (www.reelreactioncharters.com).

Capt. Brett Taylor

Now that it has settled down more anglers are getting back out and reports are flowing in. The fish are on the chew both on the beach and boat. Here’s some recent reports.

Bass along the beach is getting better.

Fresh off the surf, John Murry stopped in the shop to get a new tip installed on his Lamiglas surf rod. While here John reported bass and blues on bunker. John said the fishing was good where he was on the mid-island surf.

Another angler was in and reported fun fishing with his son on the bayside, small blues.

The crabbing is red hot.  Customers are raving on the blue claws right now.

The Inlet was good yesterday.  Got word from a couple customers who had fun there on bucktails and plugs.

Some good reports today from the boat guys. We heard there’s bunker patches along the beaches of LBI and IBSP. Here’s a nice one from Mark Finelli of Laura Sportfishing. Mark reported catching a couple on the snag and drop today out of Barnegat Inlet. Looking to get out on the water with Mark? Give him a call… 8563416562

Paul Sowney Jr sent in this photo of a nice bass. Caught and released off the LBI surf yesterday.

Matt Polito reported a good day yesterday. “It was a nice day on the beach catching bluefish on the LBI surf.” Here’s a photo of one yellow eye.

The Grundens Deck Boss Boots are in. Stop by and check them out. One of the only made in the USA boot available. Retail $99.99

Here’s Bob Danyluk of Flemington NJ with a 38 pound striper that freight trained that white Mojo hanging out of his mouth. We were trolling in 60 feet of water off of Seaside today. 52 degree water, lots of bunker around.

Here’s the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH-Nhmf8_9I&feature=youtu.be

Going to get interesting. We have room on trips sailing every day targeting these big bass in the ocean and/or the blues in the bay. The weather is mint all week.

Capt. Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674

hiflier.com

David DiGangi sent in this photo and report… “I caught this 45″ bass on Thursday at about 9:30 am trolling a white #4 Bunker Spoon with a complete Tony Maja rig and wire line. We were just north of the Barnegat Inlet in 40′ of water.”

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I just got off of Sedge Island, located on Barnegat Bay behind Island Beach State Park, after spending Thursday overnight into Friday with some of my AP Environmental Science Students. Sedge Island is rich in history.  An over 100 year old hunting shack has stood the test of time and weathered every coastal storm Mother Nature has thrown at it. Babe Ruth stayed at Sedge and it is without any doubt it is the pillar to which Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons have made a historical comeback after the detrimental effect of DDT which was banned in 1972. And it was one man, Pete McLain, who had the vision and determination to bring these birds back from the brick of extinction. Knowing that hunting and conservation could co-exist, it was Pete who had the name of the New Jersey’s Departmental of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish & Game name changed to Fish & Wildlife. Pete is no longer with us, but his legacy is remembered every year with when from the wintering grounds of South America  the first Ospreys returns to Sedge Island in March. Thanks Pete! Now with the fishing report.  It was great to see my students get into some of the bluefish action today.  They landed a handful of blues from 2-4  pounds, broke off one much bigger, and landed a schoolie bass. I had Paul Karner out earlier in the week flyfishing with no success.  Seems like the 40 deg nights put the blues off a little. With the full moon passed us the big bass are starting to show up off the beach.  All we need  is a little warming of the ocean to blow the bite wide open. I have some magic hour dates open later in the week as well as Sunday May 21^st.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511