Albies were up on top again today, although a bit on the spooky side. Saturday morning’s boat traffic didn’t help at all but it was great to see anglers out on the water on the hunt! For the most part everyone played nice and allowed for productive close quarters fishing. The opportunities are out there if you get out there.
Dewey Knapp reported, “What a blast these little critters are… already looking forward to the next time!”
Kyle Gronostajski, “Have to love when the ocean is so alive. Bait, blues, albies, dolphin and whales. A few more degrees cooler and the bass should arrive to a giant feast.
Some large bass have moved in! Today the Jen-Jen got into a good bite on the bunker pods off of IBSP, snag and drop in the afternoon. It came alive! They caught one that went 41.6 pounds.
Some big gator blues are chomping!!! Here’s store staffer Dan with a monster he caught today.
1st Annual Merchantville Fishing Club Tournament
Here on LBI, today was the 1st Annual Merchantville Fishing Club Surf Tournament. 30 teams plus about 20 individuals rounded out for about 200 anglers fishing. The winning team taking the $750 cash prize, RH Custom Rods, had 220″ of scoring fish. Equal mix of kingfish and small blues. The $450 Second Place was Ocean City Fishing Club with 180″. The $300 Third Place went to South Jersey Surfcasters with approx 160pts. Most pts individuals was Bill Kephart Jr with 97pts. Most fish female was Lynda Greaves with 60pts. Most points (27.5) and Biggest Fish youth (14.5″ hick shad) went to Lachlan Pirello of Long Beach Island FC. Largest Fish Overall was a 15.25″ blue. Calcutta $480 Largest fish “other than blue” Calcutta was a 15″ kingfish. CHRIS Thatcher of Surf n Land Club. Calcutta $300.
With my son’s fall baseball schedule winding down, weekends are finally in play as the fish have started moving. The recent cooler nights have chilled our surrounding waters down and the bay/inlet Striped Bass are starting to become active. We will start targeting Striped Bass and Bluefish for the rest of the season. It should only get better in the coming weeks and November is almost booked with only two dates remaining.
I had Bruce Connor from Illinois on a 5-hour Fall Striped Bass charter and we worked a variety of areas. We started working the back with live bait and Bruce hooked a couple of monster Bluefish to 16 pounds keeping a smaller one for the table. We were able to pick a 25-inch Striped Bass amongst the Bluefish, which was harvested with a NJSBBP tag. As the bite died, we got into some bird action with False Albacore busting the surface. Bay Anchovies/Rainfish were being sprayed as the Albacore rocketed through the schools. We played with the Albacore for the remainder of the trip as they burned drags on metals and our hand-tied teasers. It was literally a non-stop bite for 3 solid hours. Great job by Bruce who went home with some meat and sore arms.
On all of our Fall Striped Bass charters, we provide “live spot” on every charter which are included at no charge. Just a reminder, we have our allotted 50 Striped Bass Bonus Tags from the state of NJ for the season and we be using them till the end of the season.
If interested in booking a charter, book through the website (reelreactioncharters.com) or call/text 609-290-7709. As always, we use the highest quality gear and everything is included: gear, tackle, fish-cleaning, and ICE! It’s “no worries” fishing. Just come aboard and FISH.
If you have not heard by now the false albacore fishing is red hot… off the charts… WORLD CLASS!!! Anglers from around the world converge at Montauk and Harkers Island to tangle with “Little Tunny” and all his buddies. Right now the locally fishery stands up to these these legendary locations.
Anyone who has not experienced albie fishing should try it out. It’s a blast! Especially on light tackle and more so on the fly! Get out and enjoy. There have been some caught by land based anglers; however it is not the easiest to accomplish. For those that don’t have a boat, reach out to a friend or better yet hook up with the local charter boat captains. They are dialed in. Give them a call to get in on the action.
Today I was out on the water with Bob Bruns of upstate New York targeting the albies on the fly. After yesterday’s off the charts fishing expectations were HIGH! We started off the morning looking for bass in the dark but could only squeak out a couple blues. Before the sun poked we got on the search and found the albies boiling. The stiff westerly winds made for challenging fly fishing conditions but Bob did great putting the fly where it needed to be… in front of the speeders face. We had a blast catching a bunch of them all morning. Here’s a short clip of one bite with some some screaming drag.
On the Surf
The LBI surf striped bass fishing is still on the slow but fish are being caught. For the latest results on the LBI Surf Fishing Classic check out the Live Results Page.
Tomorrow is the ASAC sanctioned Merchantville Fishing Club Surf Tournament. Best of luck to all the anglers. We are looking forward to a great day. It will be interesting to see what species are caught. With all of the anglers fishing these tournaments really provide a great gauge on what’s present. Stay Tuned…
Other Fishing Fronts
Trolling the beaches is a very slow pick but should improve very soon. There have been a couple nice ones pulled locally on spoons. Word from up state is positive. We heard of solid fishing off Sea Girt.
The back bay is still offering great fishing. One customer buying a bunch of softbaits and jig heads said, “You don’t need luck. It’s that good.” Eeling is heating up in the bay with anglers catching bass.
Tog fishing continues to produce!
Good weather window has offshore anglers packing up and pushing off. We got a recent report from the edge that swords are on the chew. Also we heard that some scallop boats fishing the Hudson closed area are chumming up tuna in the slicks. Anglers are getting in on the action.
The albie fishing presently on hand is as good as it gets! Vast Schools of breaking fish for as far as the eye can see is making not only EPIC False Albacore fishing for the light tackle enthusiast but phenominal visual strikes as well with fish chasing our lures right to the hull!
If a screaming drag and a bent rod is some of your favorite sights and sounds then get out there now! These gamesters are greased lighting so make sure you wear a pair of running shoes as they will rip you around the boat faster than any other fish that swims our inshore waters!!
Piles of white bait are stretched out along LBI’s beaches, Barnegat Inlet and the local waters to our north and south. For the most part these black clouds of white bait have FALSE ALBACORE heavily feeding. There’re bluefish, weakfish and striped bass in the mayhem too. The scene is Montauk September session esque!
Today I was out on the water with store staffer’s Lou and Blake. To say the trip was sensational is an understatement. It was an all morning blast session with speedsters smoking drags.
On light tackle outfits (3000 size spinners matched up with a 7′ medium action rod) these could be one of the funnest species to target inshore, especially the fly. On spinning tackle the Deadly Dick was top producer and softbaits from Ronz, Fins and Tsunami are a close second. With that said if you can get out on the water, now is the time. Get in the game while fishing is off the charts!!!
Here’s one of many fat alberts that fell to the fly today.
More News Local Reds
Joe Hanley knows a thing or two about catching quality redfish. When he saw the report of Cutter’s LBI mullet run surf redfish on the fly he sent in a message… “Just saw the redfish post. Nice fish! I also got one last night (Tuesday) off the mid-island surf. It was a small puppy, about 15 inches. Went for a 3/8oz lead head rigged with a paddle tail. Caught two last year on November 21st on the same lure. There must be a few around.” It’s great to see these fish around! With the way seasons and temps are trending maybe one day we’ll have a solid red drum fishery! Wouldn’t that be nice?
Here’s a photo of Joe with a bull from down on the Outer Banks, October 10,2014.
Tautog Fishing Update
The tog fishing at the Barnegat Inlet only gets better! Jeff Crabtree is in the shop everyday, if not every other day. He’s dialed in with togging the rocks and recently has been doing great! Wednesday he was in for crabs in the morning then stopped back at 1pm to check weight on a 20″ white chin. Turns out it was a 5.88 pound fish. Really nice catch for a land based tog angler! Jeff said, “Yesterday (Tuesday) I had four keeper sized fish.” Fishing is good and keepers are holding. Get out and give it your best shot!
Here’s a photo of Jeff’s 5.88 pound tog!
Today we had two tog weighed in. Bill Figley of the Village Harbour Fishing Club checked in a 3.72 pound white chin. A 5.14 pound rubba’ lip went for Bob Schlachter’s (from Rutland, VT) green crab on the BL jetty.
NJ’s Black Sea Bass Season Is Almost Open
Lots of anglers are gearing up in preparation of Black Sea Bass fishing which opens Sunday October 22. It remains open to the end of the year with a 15 fish bag limit at 12.5″ minimum size. Word in the shop from commercial pin hookers is the bite has been really good with lots of big knot heads. Everyone is struggling getting clams due to a severe shortage. Unless something changes, fresh/live, salted and even frozen clams look to be a no go this entire fall. Anglers are choosing squid and meat like mackerel and bunker as a substitute. One angler purchased a couple jars of Jig Strips which are squid scented and said, “I trim them with a pair of scissors to the perfect size and add to the hook with bait. The strips are added insurance.” Jig Stripz hold up great to feisty biters!
Heading to the dock right now to jump on the boat and head out. Birds, bunker, whales, stripers, blues, and albies are up and down the beach. Perfection westerly forecast and temps in the 70’s. These next few days are not to be missed.
Open Boat or Charter tomorrow (Fri) Oct 20 leaving at 11AM to 5 PM. Also Sat, Sun, and Mon, Oct 21, 22, and 23 leave at 6AM return around 1 PM. 4 people max on Open Boat trips. $175 person. All fish are shared. We provide everything.
Never too late to try for an opening, you can call right up until “go time”.
PHENOMENAL FISHING!!!!! With the weather trending stable [ imagine that] and the fishing nothing short of EPIC our 3 hour trips have been an absolute smack down on stripers, blues and albies!!
Our light tackle enthusiast have been rewarded with likes of “Montauk Type” fishing with fast out of the gate “catching” [ not fishing] within minutes of throwing the dock lines!
I have 2 spots open for Friday morning [weather looks fantastic] hour 6:30 am -11:30 am targeting all the above with all tackle and bait supplied – $175.00pp and afternoon 3 hour 1:30pm – 4:30pm – $120pp.
World class light tackle action with high speed dragsters from the likes of torpedo shaped little tunny has been absolutely insane!! Presently the amount of false albies along our beaches has been nothing short of historic with tons of bird plays , bait pods and aerial free jumping tunny as far as the eye can see!!
These little tuna pulled drag faster and harder than any fish that swim our local inshore waters. Although well placed casts continue to up the anglers opportunities to capitalize with coming tight but once the techniques are squared away look out and hold on for some fast and furious fishing!!
Stripers and bluefish also continue to provide excellent oppurtunites all within the safe confines of our bay and inlet waters on a variety of live and artificial baits.
C’mon and jump aboard for some fantastic fall fishing!!
“Fishing’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get!”
Here’s a story from Comanche Surfcasting’s South Philly Fred…
Every once in awhile something special happens. This story is about Cutter, a fly fishing guide from Colorado studying at Princeton. During this year’s Mullet Run, fishing a hard north east blow, I ran into a man. He looked confused and out of place. So, I introduced myself. We began to talk during the slack high tide. It turns out it was his first time fishing the NJ coast and was in search of a striped bass on the fly. A bit overwhelmed by the super tough and rough conditions, he was hesitant and asked a lot of questions. A lot of really good questions. I could tell this guy was the real deal.
A bit later into our conversation, the tide started moving by now and I noticed a curious seagull hovering over a specific area. I told Cutter, “We need to cast in that area!” Sure enough as soon as my bucktail hit the water I was tight to a striper. Next cast, another one! Third cast, another one! I looked back at Cutter and he was bowed! We were doubled up!!! I quickly released a bass I had on and ran over to assist him. Cutter said, “This is a good fish!” I leadered and pulled the fish gently towards me and I couldn’t believe my eyes… I yelled through the 20 knot wind, “IT’S A RED FISH!” Bottom line… Cutter’s first fish in NJ salt is a red on the fly… unbelievable! When you are fishing just never know what you are gonna get!
A New Jersey redfish caught recently off the LBI surf by Cutter from Colorado.
Now on to a fishing report update…
Lots of bluefish around in our waters. Anglers in the surf are mowing through bunker in search of bass, getting torn up by the yellow eyed piranha. These blues range from 1-10+ pounds
The awesome backwater fishign contiues for both schoolie bass and weakfish. Anglers are catching using hardbait lures, swimbait shads and bucktail jigs. The classic Lunker City Fin-s & Sluggos are going the trick too!
Today a customer in the shop today buying some striped bass trolling gear reported his neighbor got a pair of classy bass trolling bunker spoons off of LBI in 40 foot of water. “Both fish were 20 pound class or bigger.” Today we also got a report of adult bunker podded up off of IBSP.
There’s still some fluke hanging around the surf. Hungryforsimplicity posted a photo on Instagram with this caption, “Surf fishing LBI… There is something perfect about a beach with only a few people on it. Oh and we caught flounder, plus saw a pod of dolphin.”
LBI Fall Classic Update
The Long Beach Island surf hasn’t officially lit up but anglers are finding fish. Today closes out on day 11 of the 63rd Annual Surf Fishing Classic. So far it’s safe to say the tournament is off to a great start. With 10 blues and four bass the scales are active.
Yesterday afternoon Steve Warren was in the shop before he hit the beach. Turns out he got a nice striper shortly after leaving. Steve currently leads with the largest striped bass (and senior division) at 18.96 pounds.
Gary Grippaldi checked in a good size gator bluefish this past weekend and he sits on top holding the largest bluefish with his 14.12 pound yellow eye.
Here’s Gary with his 14.12 pound bluefish.
Chet Bojarski is putting in time and catching. He currently leads the bluefish senior division and has second place overall bluefish with his 13.16 pound racer.
It’s great to see the fishing groms getting in the game! The youth division has fish on the board. The youth bass leader is Logan Johnson (8.1 pound) and the bluefish leader is Quinn Rutan (12.52 pound). So far no fish checked in by a female angler. For more details on the current standing go to www.LBIFT.com
Here’s the youth bass leader Logan Johnson.
LBI Surf Fishing Classic Special Prizes
Another Bonus Day Is Coming Up!!! October 19th $250 Cash Award For The Largest Striped Bass in Honor of Ric O’Brien from Jingles Bait & Tackle.
Here’s some additional prizes… Week Two Special Prizes
Sunday October 15th $100.00 Gift Certificate To Fisherman Headquarters For Heaviest Bass
Monday October 16th
Tuesday October 17th Otw Aluminum With Attached Clip & Rag. Retails For Almost $50.00 Goes To The 2nd Largest Bass Weighed In Today
Wednesday October 18th
Thursday October 19th $250.00 Cash Award For Largest Striped Bass In Honor Of Ric O’Brien From Jingles Bait And Tackle
Friday October 20th
Saturday October 21st $100.00 Gift Certificate To Fisherman Headquarters For Heaviest Bass–9 Foot Shakespeare Alpa Combo For Biggest Striper Entered By A Juvenile Angler Donated By EP Sales
Inlet Tog Fishing
The light house is a great place to fish almost year round. For the past couple moths the tog fishing has been very good. Now’s the time to gear up and get in on the fun. Anglers are catching all along park’s water front.
Here’s Torr Cohen with one of many black fish he caught recently at the Barnegat Lighthouse.
The schoolies bass continue to chew in the bay. Anglers fishing poppers soft baits. And jig are having a blast
One angler got a reddish this past weekend.
Here’s some photos of a couple recent weigh-in.
Upcoming Tournaments
Save the date for these upcoming boat fishing tournaments!
The 21st Sea Shell Striped Bass Derby (All Boat Tournament) is October 27, 28, 29th.
The Maximilian Foundation Annual Striped Bass Bash (All Boat Tournament & Fish Fry) is November 4th
The Forked River Tuna Club Fall Striped Bass Tournament is November 4th to 11th.
This week we found ourselves battling through weather that limited our access to all but the protected waters of the back bay until weeks end.
As the weather settled I got out for a solo secession [ Sunday] to find excellent activity with numerous bird plays that contained albies, blues and stripers!!
World class light tackle fishing right off our beaches that folks travel great distances to be part of!!
With the days getting shorter and temps starting to cool off we are finally seeing the first signs of the Fall progression with excellent opportunities for the light tackle enthusiast.
I have Friday 7am-12noon and 1pm -6pm for open or private charters we will be targeting albies, stripers and blues. All bait and tackle, fish cleaning included – $175.00pp
609-494-5739 
World class light tackle action with high speed dragsters from the likes of torpedo shaped little tunny has been absolutely insane!! Presently the amount of false albies along our beaches has been nothing short of historic with tons of bird plays , bait pods and aerial free jumping tunny as far as the eye can see!!
