BHCFA Fishing Report Update

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Fishing Report

June 28 Report Update

by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

As the Fourth of July draws near, fluke fishing for the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association is domination the action.

Captain Gary Dugan of “Irish Jig” Sportfishing reports steady fishing on fluke with catches ranging from 15-25 with averages of 2-5 keepers. He plans to start fishing more in the ocean on local reef sites and lumps as the fish begin their migration from the bay to the ocean. He has been finding good numbers of big blackfish also, but they must be released as they are not yet in season.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction” has been fishing the bay waters hard for some big catches of fluke. There are many more throwbacks than keepers, but his anglers have been going home with enough keepers for fish dinner. He recently had Bill Dodd of Beach Haven West and his son-in-law Eric on a 4-hour bay and inlet fluke trip. They worked quite a few areas with the duo releasing 40 Fluke while keeping two nice 22 inchers for the table. The pink S&S Bigeye bucktail did the trick for the keepers. Another day he had Ellington “Duke” Smith of Delaware with his grandson Marcus and girlfriend Jasmine out in difficult weather conditions. The trio caught some 15 fish with four keepers to 28-inches weighing 8-pounds. On another trip Captain Brett caught some bluefish and short striped bass in the inlet.

Thursday, June 28 marked the first class of the Junior Mates Program administered by the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association. Interested teenagers who missed the first session can see about still signing up by calling Captain John Lewis at 609-670-5980.

Additional information on the boats and activities of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.bhcfa.net

LBI Fishing Report Update – June 28th

Here’s the Long Beach Island fishing report update for Thursday June 28, 2018.

With fluke, bluefish, weakfish and striped bass here now’s a great time to score a Barnegat Bay Slam or better yet Grand Slam! Light tackle anglers fishing the bay and Inlet find the variety but getting to ever base is no easy feat.

Small blues dominate the surf, with fluke and kingfish also in the mix. Some brown shark and sand tigers are present on the south end.

Fluke fishing is great in the bay as well as the north end beaches but keepers are hard to find. The jetties (few of them these days) are producing too.

The offshore and mid-shore fishing is strong. Out at the canyons the awesome yellowfin tuna bite continues. The strong bigeye bite has faded but we expect that is just due to the full moon. Hopefully they will turn back on soon.

Marty Anderson was just out aboard the Waterproof and had a great trip. He reported, “Lights out epic yellowfin bonanza! By 9am we caught out limit with 35+ yellowbirds. Night shark fishing was all hammers with no makos for us.”

Here’s Marty with one of many yellowfin tuna.

Shark fishing started slow but has picked up. Anglers are catching both makos and threshers Finding a keeper with the new mako 83″ minimum size regulations is difficult.

Here’s a recent catch from our long time Penn fishing rep Jim O’Donnell. 467 pound monster thresher shark!

The 30-50 fathom midshore grounds have good size bluefin tuna. Some quality bluefin fishing went down with a few 70” plus fish caught. Anglers are trolling and getting fish on top water. The chunk and jig bite should tee off soon!

With a good stretch of weather coming this weekend we are looking forward to some great fishing.

ICAST 2018

ICAST is right around the corning! Stay tuned to our social media pages and this blog for some great fishing tackle news.

Here’s a photo of the all new Penn Spinfisher SSVI, the 6th generation Spinfisher spinning reel from Penn Reels. I’ve had the pleasure to field test this reel for the past three seasons. Nothing but great things to say.

Penn Spinfisher SSVI Series Fishing Reel – This is the bailless (6500BLS) model which will be available in tow sizes, 4500 and 6500.

The guys at Yo-Zuri America and factory direct from Japan have made numerous visits to Fish Heads in the past couple of years. While here they took notes and finally we see what they’ve been working on! We are stoked to see these new colors.

Reel Reaction Charters – Fishing Report

We have been very busy on the water as I’m literally out almost everyday going for bay and inlet Fluke. We will eventually start running Ocean Fluke trips once some of my choice snags start producing, more on this in a couple of weeks. We were cancelled today due to the weather which will allow me to get some 100hr maintenance completed and some re-rigging. The Fluking is getting better as we put a nice 8 pound doormat in the boat this past week! Here is this week’s rundown:

I had return client Tom McGough of Harrisburg, PA, his wife Kristen, Andy McGough of Philadelphia, and James McGough of Altoona on a 4hr Bay/Inlet charter. Cool, Windy, and Fall-like for June. It was a very tough day as the wind was blowing NE close to 20 and we had wind against tide in most locations. We moved a lot to find biting fish, but the foursome only managed a little over 20 shorts with 1 nice keeper at 22 inches. Even the inlet/jetty was tough rough to work for Bluefish. Tough day on the water, but at least the rods bent!!

Early in the week, I had return client Ian Habich and his friend Christian Gruber on a 4hr Bay/Inlet trip. We worked the first hour and a half throwing soft plastics around the Barnegat Inlet. Both anglers got bit off by Bluefish, before finding hookups on short Striped Bass. The bass were promptly released after a quick pic. We fished the remaining trip looking for keeper Fluke, in which we found close to 20 shorts with 3 being 17 7/8! Another few weeks and they’ll be keepers! Tough day on the keeper front, but we’ll be back at it again!

I had new client and Village Harbor Fishing Club member Bill Dodd of Beach Haven West and his son-in-law Eric on a 4hr Bay/Inlet Fluke trip. We worked quite a few areas with the duo releasing 40 Fluke while keeping two nice 22 inches for the table. The pink S&S Bigeye bucktail did the trick for the keepers! Again, it has been a little sporadic for the keepers to bite and the temperature definitely makes a big difference. A great morning on the water!

I had return client Ellington “Duke” Smith of Delaware with his grandson Marcus and girlfriend Jasmine on a 4hr Bay/Inlet Fluke trip. We had very tough conditions as it was blowing a steady 15-20 knots, and I had to power drift in most locations. We moved around a lot today to find a few biting fish in each spot. The trio caught close to 15 Fluke and 4 nice keepers (28in, 22.5in, 22in, 18.5 inches). We missed another one boat-side when it shook the bucktail. The S&S Bigeye was the key again with the 8 pounder inhaling it! Jasmine caught her 1st ever Fluke bucktailing, so congrats!!

We are 7 days a week (morning/afternoon). If interested in booking a charter, book our site (www.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.

Capt. Brett Taylor ~ www.reelreactioncharters.com ~ Call or Text: 609-290-7709

Lighthouse Sportfishing Report 6/27

This year marks my 15th year as Barnegat Bay’s’ premier guide service. During my 15 years of guiding, I have been boarded by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) 3 times for safety checks. Two of the three times I have been boarded have been with the same charter, which is the Demareskis and it happened the other day. What are the odds of that? Kudos to the men and women serving in our USCG for everything they do! Off course, everything check out OK during the USCG safety check.

The Demareski’s have been coming out with me since 2007. During the first few years, Roger D came out with his three boys. Now he comes out with four. The youngest, Patrick 7 years old, was high hook today on fluke. The honking NW winds made conditions tough today and the bite was off but we caught a bunch of shorts and had lots of fun. The coolest thing we saw today was a gigantic sea robin chasing a 4-5” sundial to the surface in 10’ of water. The sundial lost that battle. We also caught a micro striper on a minnow. Some of the fluke are even eating their own kind (see picture). The inlet area is holding plenty of bass and blues but the dinner bell has been hard pin down. I have been finding small schools of the bunker just off the beach. And I mean just off the beach. They were on top of the bar just behind the breaking waves. Some of these bunker were only 10” long. Perfect sized baits for schoolie bass. I did snag and swim a few around the inlet. The blues loved them as did the small bass. With school out, I am available every day. Being a teacher and a Hooked on Fishing – Not on Drugs certified instructor I specialize in getting kids hooked on fishing.

Screaming drags,

Captain Alex 609-548-2511
Lighthouse Sportfishing

Hi Flier Inshore and Offshore

Just got back from Key West. Had my two boys, Nick, 19 and Max, 17 down there to catch their first permit. Found the best captain down there, Capt Jason Wells from Reel Easy Charters 305.906.2076. So impressed by this guy. Laid back, focused,….and persistent. The key to catching permit down there is to have crabs for bait. The whole island was sold out but he had a call out to a shop that was going to call us if any came in. We were already on the fishing grounds when the call came in and he had us reel in and motor back to get live crabs. Not too many guides would burn the fuel or put in the time to do this. It paid off as we caught four nice permit in the two hours after we returned to the grounds. We also had two big snook, a 17 and 18 pounder that Max and I took on live pinfish in the early morning out on a wreck in the Atlantic. I didn’t even know you could catch them there, I thought they were a backwater or near shoreline fish. We had some big mangrove snappers, yellowtails, barracuda, a black grouper, a bunch of Spanish mackerel and one good size king mackerel for the two days we spent with Capt Jason. Here’s Nick DeGennaro with his first permit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW4UyLwExXk and Max DeGennaro with his: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNrHwSdVOkY

Back to NJ fishing now. I have inshore charters booked for this Fri, Sat, and Sun, June 29, 30, and July 1. We will target the blues and short stripers in the inlet, fluke in the bay, and I picked up some live shedder crabs to see what I could get going in the back bay. Hoping to find some weakfish or kingfish.

Monday, July 2 and Wednesday, July 4 we are available for Open Boat or charter. If the weather is perfect we will be looking to run offshore to the tuna grounds on either or both days. Could be Yellowfin or Bluefin….or both! Looking for light and variable winds and no threat of storms. That’s the only forecast I go on. We have a Garmin Sirius/XM satellite weather station on board to monitor any storm activity as well. $300 person if we run to the 50 to 60 mile grounds, $350 person if we run all the way to the canyons. The shorter run is usually a 4AM to 4PM trip and the longer run would be 2AM to 4PM. Something you should know, and I repeat this a lot as I don’t want anyone to be disappointed, if you want a better chance at sailing for tuna, you should book a bigger boat that will sail in sea conditions that we will not. Three to four foot seas is not much of a sea in those bigger sportfishermen, but I am looking for flat calm or 1 to 2’s at most to go that distance in a 25 ft boat. Mind you, it’s a very capable World Cat catamaran with brand new motors, a six man survival raft, and an EPIRB (Search and Rescue Beacon), but those are just for peace of mind, not anything we ever want to use. If you’re good with that, C’mon, C’mon!

If it looks like the weather is not good for offshore we will target inshore fishing, maybe Barnegat Ridge or inlet/bay fishing. we will be fishing for something.

Pics:

Nick DeGennaro with Capt Jason Wells and his Permit

Max DeGennaro with his 17 lb Snook

Dave DeGennaro with his 18 lb Snook

Capt. Dave DeGennaro

Hi Flier Sportfishing

732.330.5674 cell

hiflier.com

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – Light Tackle Action Remains Hot!!

Anglers aboard the Reel Fantasea continue to score Barnegat Bay Slams mixing it up between all three species – Stripers, blues and fluke on light spinning tackle to maximize their angling fun!

Stripers ranging just under 28″ to as small as mid to upper teens [ inches] have be bending the rods and straining our light tackle drags to the delight of our light tackle enthusiasts.

Bluefish have also been readily available on most tidal stages ranging in size from 2lbs – 10lbs under heavy bird plays. They have provided exceptional light tackle fun and opportunity for those seeking more drag scorching quarry.

Fluke are also available for those seeking these delicious and delicate gamesters but seeking cleaner water during certain tidal stages have been the best way to score consistently to avoid peak sea weed and algae flow.

I have Friday afternoon/evening 5pm-8pm , Saturday and Sunday morning 5am – 10am available for anyone looking to get out on the action!!

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

Captain Steve Purul

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters

609-290-1217

Last Minute Opening – Tuesday June 26

I had a last minute cancellation for tomorrow, Tuesday June 26th. I’m willing to run open boat ($125 per person – need 3) or charter. The rest of the week is booked solid. All tackle, bait, ice, Gulp, fish-cleaning is included. We would be targeting Fluke and have decent tides – I’m willing to go 5am to 9am or 6am to 10am. If interested give me a text or call, 609-290-7709.

Capt. Brett Taylor – Reel Reaction Sportfishing – www.reelreactioncharters.com

Old Barney Charters Report

The last few trips have seen many species aboard The Bonnie Anne. Last weekend we were on sea bass with Brian and Jim McGee and their father Jim Sr. on their annual Father’s Day trip. The group was on the sea bass and left with bags of fillets filled with sea bass and ling. Our first stop had throw back after throw back. It was our 3^rd stop that was holding nice hump heads for the group. Father’s Day I was out with “The” Bonnie Anne and our 3 boys, ages 8, 6, and 2. We hit sea bass for an hour and the kids put 8 in the box and then we played with cocktail blues using metals at the inlet. Perfect Father’s Day. Sea bass opens again on July 1st.

This weekend I had Janet and Rich Krakowski out with sons Rich and Alex. This was their first time ever bucktailing for fluke and Janet’s first time ever fishing. We hit channel edges on the outgoing at the north end. The group put 3 keepers in the box at 18”, 19”, and 20.5”. The fish didn’t seem to prefer a certain color and all Gulp! colors produced. The group finished with over 20 fish, a couple 3ft. houndfish and a sundial.

School is out and we are fishing weekdays now! We use top quality rods, reels, and tackle, provide all bait, and ice. Just show up and have a great time catching fish! Call or email to book.

Captain Kevin Schmidt
267-918-1746
www.oldbarneycharters.com
oldbarneycharters@aol.com

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters – Multiple Barnegat Bay Slams !!

Sorry for missing last weeks update but I was enjoying my Father’s Day with family and friends and couldn’t pull my self away. I certainly hope all the dads enjoyed their day as well!

Stripers, Blues and Fluke have been our main targets this week with the closing of seabass season for now. With that being said our anglers have scored all three species [ Barnegat Bay Slam!!] consistently on trips with some of our anglers scoring multiple slams individually !!

Blues have been running into the drag scoring 9-12lbs ranges with most ranging about 3 – 5lbs while our fluke have been scored to 25″ and weighing up to almost 6lbs. Stripers are of the catch and release variety but are fantastically entertaining on light spinning tackle.

Presently I only have next Sunday July 1st available for folks looking for some salty light tackle fun!

Remember to join us on Facebook and Instagram for pictures, videos and latest updates and like us!

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

Captain Steve Purul

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters

609-290-1217

Reel Reaction Charters – Fishing Report

With lesser tidal current, the backbay Fluke fishing is definitely start to improve, but we still have to contend with slime grass and close to 20 degree temperature swings. The key has been to finding cleaner water and you can really do some damage when the wind is close to calm. We have been averaging 20 to over 35 fish per trip and the keepers are varying 1 to 5 depending on the winds. With the end of the school year and finals, I got a little behind on my reports (too many to list here), so check them out on our website (www.reelreactioncharters.com), click on reports. I’m out of school and I’m running charters 7 days a week through September 1st.