This afternoon John Matt from Surf City weighed in a monster from the mid-island surf. His 51.5″ inch 48 pound striped bass took the lead in the LBI Surf Fishing Classic and the Fish Head Striped Bass Calcutta.

At weigh in John said, “I’m on the beach everyday. It’s been slow but there’s some fish here. It’s starting up.  Drove the beach and found a nice bowl that was holding water at low tide. Set up and planned to fish the flood tide. At about 1:30pm, a half hour in, one rod with a small bunker chunk  with a short wire leader (rigged up for bluefish) had a bump. I picked it up and felt another tug so I set the hook and it began! It was mean! What a battle! Got it to the beach and we were both beat. I’ve been fishing the Long Beach Island surf for a long time. Got 20’s and 30’s but never a fish of this class. It’s my trophy.”

Author: FishHead.Greg

A Long Beach Island native with life long experience fishing and navigating the local waters, Greg is a distinguished Master Captain (the highest qualified operator license), holding a US Coast Guard Masters 50T Near Coastal License with Towing Endorsement. Raised in and now managing his family's bait and tackle business, Fishermans Headquarters (Since 1962, The Saltwater Fishing Bait & Tackle Experts) Greg is daily immersed in fishing. He is the Chief Contributor of FishingLBI.com (Long Beach Island's best fishing report blog) as well as the Admin for the shop's social media pages (on Instagram and Facebook). Be sure to follow! View all posts by FishHead.Greg