We had a pair of nice fluke weighed in today from Aaron Allison of the Village Harbour Fishing Club. Fishing the Barnegat Bay aboard the Crying Crabber they fooled two really good fish with a bucktail/Gulp combo. One 4.78 and one six pounder.
Store staffer Kelley was on the surf this morning getting his fluke on. He caught about 10 shorts but didn’t manage a keeper. He reported lots of shorts as well as some keepers by other anglers. Kelley mentioned one guy got a big tog that he released because season is closed.
Daniel Whitcraft Jr sent in this report, “My friend Dave and I fished the bay and did ok catching rays and sharks. I caught an 18″ fluke on an 8/0 circle hook with a big chunk of bunker. :-)”
Some sand tigers are showing up! Prime time ghetto sharking is getting close.
Here’s Todd Avery with a beach monster.
Save The Date
Here’s some upcoming fishing tournaments….
The 21st Annual Sunshine Foundation Fishing Tournament hosted by the Southern Ocean Chapter is Saturday July 7, 2018 at the American Legion Post 493. Entry Fee is $70 per boat, Early Entry $60 (Paid By July 1, 2018). Captain’s Meeting is Friday July 6th at the Legion
Two great long running tournaments, The Greater Atlantic Bluefish Tournament (GABT – 31st Annual) and the Ladies Invitational Bluefish Tournament (LIBT – 34th Annual) are now one, honoring John Dunn who passed away earlier this year. The John Dunn Memorial Fishing Tournament is a one day event on June 30, 2018. Entry fee is $150 for the boat division and $75 for the surf or kayak division. Cash prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place (single heaviest fish) for striped bass, bluefish and flounder in both the boat and kayak/surf division. Captain’s Meeting is Friday June 29th 7pm at the American Legion Post 493. Fish 6am-2pm, Weigh In 2pm-4pm Saturday June 30, 2018.
My head is spinning right now. We struck out Thurs afternoon on the big striper hunt after my big rah rah speech about being there or reading about it. Turns out you didn’t need to be there and there’s nothing to read about. We trolled all afternoon without a hit, and worse, it didn’t even feel like we were going to hook up. No bait, no readings….Deadsville up and down the coast except for Raritan Bay/Sandy Hook, those guys are lighting it up and that’s a little too far of a run from Barnegat Inlet. On our way back we stopped at the Barnegat Inlet jetty to cast for some blues just to put these guys into some action and it turned out to be all stripers. Nothing legal, although we came close with a 27 1/2 incher, but a blast on the 10 pound spinning rods. That action was good enough to return yesterday (Friday), of course, we left out the trolling effort. We started out casting 2 to 4 pound blues in the inlet and then when the tide was right we switched to our striper spot and connected with three bass, 24”, 12 lbs and a 21 pounder! Here’s a clip of the 12 pounder: youtu.be/5PG3IfnDau0 All on light tackle and casting soft plastics. We also caught short stripers on both days behind the sod banks.
I’m going to focus on this fishing for a little while until I hear something better out front. I also picked up some shedder crabs and a flat of sandworms as I hear the south end of LBI is giving up some nice weakfish. I thought we could try our own west side of the bay here or take the run down there.
As if that’s not enough to chew on, the canyons are on fire with bluefin and yellowfin tuna. Anything from 30 to 100 plus pound fish. Now, we’re not a canyon boat, but……we can go when the weather window is really good. The World Cat is a very capable hull, we just put brand new motors on her, I have a brand new six man Viking survival raft, an EPIRB search and rescue beacon, and a Garmin/Sirius/XM weather station onboard the boat. I bought all that stuff before I bought the first gold reel. I’m not going to give any dates or advertise canyon trips because my rate of cancel would be so high on any dates we pre-book. However, feel free to check in if the marine offshore weather forecast looks really good for any Sat, Sun, or Mon.
Like it does tomorrow (Sunday)!!
Running Open Boat or Charter tomorrow (Sun) and Monday, June 10 and 11 for ?????. you tell me.
I’m game for any of it.
Pic: Capt. Nick DeGennaro with his 21 pound striper
TGIF – Thank God It’s Friday! Here’s the Long Beach Island NJ fishing report update for Friday June 8th. The first full week of June turned out to be a good one. Fishing as a whole is strong with great reports from all the local waters; back bay, from shore, inshore and offshore.
Back Bay Fishing Report
The bay is chock full of fluke. Small striped bass and blues also offer great fun for light tackle enthusiast. Crabbing started early and continues with the best reports from the bay’s west side.
Rick the Fishing Musician came out for the encore today and kicked off the weekend right. He caught a 21″ three pound fluke fishing the bayside today. Rick fooled the fluke fishing slow and low on the outgoing tide with a Gulp Jerk Shad rigged on a jig head.
Store staffer Max recently fished the bay and did well. He said, “The area I wanted to fish was loaded with grass. It was tough. I had to adapt and work through it. The Tom Scibek Floating Jig Heads was the solution. Rig it on a dropper loop about 12-18″ up above a dipsey sinker for a near weedless approach.”
Ron Hart stopped by today with a pair of nice fluke fishing Gulp in the bay. One was 21″ and the other was 24″ going 5.14 pounds.
Here’s Ron Hart with a pair of nice fluke.
From Shore – LBI Surf Fishing
Some nice weighs from the surf today and a number of good reports.
Tim Daly of Manahawkin weighed in a 37″ 19.35 pound striped bass. He caught the fish off of the mid-island surf fishing fresh Fish Heads bunker at about 10am.
Anthony Aloi of New City New York caught a cow fishing the surf last night. Fishing the night shift on the mid-island surf Anthony got a good bite at about 10pm. Turned out to be a hoss! 46″ 38.3 pound bass.
Henry from Ship Bottom got a kingfish on the beach today fishing bunker off the mid island surf. Yesterday his father-in-law had a nice striped bass fishing the water.
The Battle on the Beach – High School Fishing Tournament
The 10th Annual Southern Rams High School Surf Fishing Tournament the “Battle On The Beach” was this past Thursday June 7, 2018 (4-7pm) on the Barnegat Light Beach. The annual contest between local Ocean County high schools was a success with over 40 student anglers fishing between four teams. Surf conditions were calm with clean water and a mild south easterly wind. A majority of the fish caught were blues and fluke. The high hooks for Southern were Freddy Farina and Cam Conrad. Both seniors each caught a half dozen targeted game fish.
We would like to thank the LBI Fall Surf Fishing Classic, Fisherman Headquarters, The Barnegat Light Heavers and other local tackle shops for their support. The local fishing clubs are looking forward to the summer.
~ Jason Hoch
Inshore Fishing Report
Striped bass and sea bass are the name of the game inshore.
This graphic from the guys at On The Water details the current striped bass migration. Some quality fish are here but on the move out. Expect the smaller class of bass to take over.
Early June is well known for trophy striped and today a couple big bass were caught in the boat today.
Mike Nini and Cole Cronin got into some nice ones fishing today out of Barnegat Light. It was the boat’s first trip out since back from the Florida Keys. They headed up the beach and marked some fish. Went on the troll and got big on a Magic Tail Mojo! They also dropped a good fish. They reported, “On the deck of the boat the fish was coughing up squid. We laid her on top of the cooler before letting her go and she had about 8″ at least on the 46″ cooler. Fish was a monster!”
Robbie Vallone was on the Carolyn Ann III today and reported good sea bass fishing. Robbie said, “The jig bite was good. I got seven keepers and another anglers got the same. We were the two high hooks but didn’t get the pool. The pool winner was a
Offshore Big Game Fishing
The solid early season offshore fishing continues. Reports from the edge have been great. Days ago a section of water came into the Toms. Some boats got on it and produced. It slid down into the Lindy and things broke wide open. The water continues to move south lighting up the Spencer and soon if not already will be in the Wilmington. Any quick look at social media will turn up some awesome fishing photos from recent days.
Lots of great fishing! Now’s the time to gear up and Go Go Go!!!
Yellowfin, Bluefin, Bigeyes, Makos, Mahi and Golden Tilefish.
I got the invite from Jeff & Ilan of the Reel Innovation, “Wanna head offshore?” In a second, I jumped in on the opportunity. We broke the BL Inlet at 10pm Wednesday night and headed to the deep. We were shocked to find the inshore water from the Inlet almost all the way to the edge was 56-58 degrees. [Only a few days earlier the waters in the 30-40 fathom area was in the mid to upper 60’s and holding fish (makos and bluefin). The north east blow must have pushed it further south.] Once we pulled into the promise land it took a little bit to find the right water (69 degrees) but when we did lots of life was there. Minutes after stopping the boat squid were in the lights. Marking fish we dropped some baits and I tried jigging for a little bit but no bites. We switched gears and go prep’d for the grey light troll. Some other boats fishing the area picked a few fish at first light but for us the first bite (one small mahi) did come until about 6:30-7am.
Shortly after the mahi things came alive! The rest of the day was full of action. At times the bite was very consistent making for fun mayhem in the cockpit. Doubles, triples… at one time we had 8 clickers screaming with fish airing out on every lure/bait in the spread. We found the bite to be best on splash bars (spreaderbars) and Joe Shute dressed ballyhoo.
Triple hook ups to three on the deck. These came up on the spreader bars, green and the black/purple.
Everyone aboard had a great time enjoying the full day of canyon fishing fun. Captain Jeff reports,” It’s great to see the incredible fishing continue. Our day troll trip was nothing short of incredible! Lots of good action today for Reel Innovations ending the trip with 22 yellowfin and six bluefin.
Here’s a nice yellowfin tuna that ate a ballyhoo on the troll.
Dante from Magictail Bucktails was also aboard and shared this report, ” I had the privilege to fish aboard the 58′ Viking “Reel Innovations” with Captain Jeff, owner Ilan, first mate Dan and Greg from Fish Heads. Catching a half dozen bluefins and then smoking twenty plus yellowfin in short order. The food was amazing thanks to Ilan Master Angler & Iron Chef! With a full course breakfast, lunch and dinner we ate like kings.”
Thanks Ilan & Jeff again for the invite and the great trip!
We had lots of anglers in the shop today gearing up for bluewater advnetures. From rods to reel to line to lures to top quality Baitmaster Ballyhoo we are fully stocked and ready to help you prepare for your next trip.
Some anglers in the shop shared reports from their recetn trips. All were very positive. One report spoke of heavy boat traffic today but still plenty of fish on the chew. We got wind of a good big eye bite one boat got into.
Here’s an offshore report from Ryan Dellane. “First offshore trip of the season. We went 86 miles out on a 25′ single engin center console. Yeah we are crazy. Lots of life out there. Got into a hot yellowfin bite on the troll. Great day on the water with friends.”
The Carolyn Ann III party boat fishing out of Barnegat Light reported good fishing yesterday. “That short northeast storm really helped the sea bass fishing. Tuesday’s trip we had two guys with limits and a few groups who are going to have a great fish fry tonight. It was a good day of fishing today. Come join us!”
Chris Masino stopped in the shop yesterday evening to pick up some things. While here he reported good fishing on the surf, “There’s blues in along the beach feeding on chunks. In the morning there were lots of bait but out of casting range.”
John Larue sent in a couple photos and this report, “Had some great fishing up north. We crushed the bass on poppers and jigs.”
High Point Striper Shootout
Next weekend is the 11th Annual High Point Striper Shootout! Now’s the time to gear up and prepare for what we expect to be a awesome weekend of fishing! Captain’s meeting is Friday June 8th at 7pm. For more information go to www.HPVFC.com
National Fishing & Boating Week
This week is National Fishing and Boating Week. As most know fishing and boating is fun, stress relieving activity that you can enjoy with family and friends anytime. Now’s the time to enjoy yourself on the water. Be sure to bring a friend or family member to introduce them to the world of fun.
Haven’t been out since the blow came through on Sunday. We did sail Saturday with a full boat. I had some good intel from friends up north that Deal and Long Branch were giving up nice stripers so we got an early start and made the left out of Barnegat Inlet. Thirty miles later we put the lines out and we trolled for hours without a hit. The radio echoed the same sentiment of “what happened?”. There’s nothing worse than getting there to hear that. We went as far as the Shrewsbury Rocks and then we headed back to Barnegat. Stopped at the North Barnegat Inlet jetty and did really well casting light spinning rods with soft plastics for 2 to 4 pound bluefish. Fortunately the guys I had on board were having fun doing that.
What does that mean for this week? Absolutely nothing. Whether you are new or seasoned, you have to know that the bite doesn’t stay off for long. The only way to see those epic days is to chalk up a few slower ones. Sure there are trends you can exploit if you have the luxury of being able to leave the real world behind at a moments notice, but that isn’t always the case. The reality is the fish are still here, things got screwed up by the funky weather systems for a few days and now it’s time for the next round. You can either be there or read about it.
The long term weather and marine forecast looks great. We will be fishing for stripers on the oceanside and fluke and blues in the bay if everyone wants.
Sailing Open Boat or Charter: Wed (tomorrow), Thurs, and Fri, June 6, 7, and 8, Noon to 7PM.
Sat, Sun, and Mon, June 9, 10, and 11, 6AM to 1PM. $175 person, 4 people max, all fish are shared.
Everything is provided. You can call me on my cell right up until we leave to see if there is room.
Some fish on the beach today. Here’s a report sent in from Scott Shirey…
Dirty water with lots of grass today on the mid-island surf. I chunked Fish Heads Bunker. The rip was strong and couldn’t hold bottom, so I walked the bait down the beach. The fish were there, though, on the last of the incoming. This big gator, a smaller 26” blue, and a 26” bass, along with a couple missed hits.
Anglers aboard the Reel Fantasea continued to find solid light spinning tackle action with striped bass, bluefish and fluke [ when targeted] . The stripers are ranging from 18-28 +- ” , bluefish have finally showed up in force with the choppers ranging in size from 2-12lbs .Fluke fishing has also provided action when we are able to find cleaner water that isn’t heavily clouded by our annual dose of free flowing algae.
The weekly “happy hour special “5pm-8pm have provided very consistent catches for bass and blues for those looking for some great angling fun.
With a strong blow upon us, most boats are tied up. It’s great for gear work, repairs and preparation so everything is in order. It’s also a perfect time to put your feet up and relax, but not if you’re a surf rats. A good north east blow means go time!
Mike Ambrosio is one of those. “The wind was howling, the sand was blasting and the current was ripping!” Mike hit the beach and caught a big bluefish, “Thanks Fish Heads for the fresh bunker. It was windy as a mo’fo’ but I found a way!”
Looking back on the days leading up to the blow, local fishing was good with a steady pick of striped bass and bluefish on the surf. Anglers both fishing bait and lures caught fish. Reports came in from the entire stretch of LBI with no one particular spot stealing the spot light.
As the waters warms surf sharking will kick off. We’ve already heard about the season’s first sand tigers. Due to their liking for cool water temperatures, they show first. Shortly after the brownies make an appearance.
Big Game Fishing Report
Speaking of sharking… June offers excellent inshore shark fishing. The month is off to a great start with some positive reports flowing in.
Jeff Thummel fished with Mike Kulinski and posted, “Great day sharking!!! 200+ pound mako, 160 pound mako, six blue sharks and a brown shark. All released.”
Daniel Rosetto (@rosettostone) reported fishing out of Forked River with Captain Tom Crespo on his new Buddy Davis “Off The Hook”. Dan reported, “Successfully hooked up and safely released a great size mako offshore yesterday. Too bad they have to be 83″ this year to kill. What an amazing fight! It jumped ten feet out of the water when hooked. It lives another day, big thanks to Captain Tom for the invite.”
While on the topic of big game fishing… Summer means one thing to blue water anglers, Prime Time! The waters are already producing so the stage is set for a great season.
Captain Jeff of Reel Innovations Sportfishing returned from the edge and reports, ” Bigeyes! Yellowfin! Another solid trip for the Reel Innovation. We enjoyed steady action on the short day troll with spreader bars getting it done.”
Captain Deane and Mike aboard the Canyon Runner report, “26 bluefin tuna with two at 52″, two yellowfin as well as a trolled mako and a mahi.”
Near Shore Boat Fishing Report
The Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club hosted their Spring Striped Bass & Bluefish Tournament this weekend. Here’s the results… 20 boats/52 anglers fished. Congrats to the winners!
Striped Bass 1) 39.42 Jason Marti – OB1 2) 39.22 Mike Greene – Lucky Stripes 3) 38.5 Paul Riker – Rebait
Bluefish 1) 6.44 Bill Figley – Red Herring 2) 4.96 Calli Casey – Dirty Martuna 3) 4.2 Ron Roshelli – UNO
Captain Ken Nutt aboard the Striper got 48 pound bass yesterday.
Magictail’s Dante Soriente shared some awesome news, “Just got wind of the 6th reported 50 plus pound striped bass this spring on Magictail products.”Magictail is the real deal! They are well know for catching fish and really big ones at that!
High Point Striper Shootout
Next weekend is the 11th Annual High Point Striper Shootout! Now’s the time to geear up and prepare for what we expect to be a awesome weekend of fishing! Captain’s meeting is Friday June 8th at 7pm. For more information go to www.HPVFC.com
There are definitely Fluke in the backwaters, but they are biting a little sporadic as I have picked up a few at some of my choice holes. But then they shut off rather quickly, the good news is that it should only pick up as we head into June. We did not sail on Sunday due to the 25-30knot E/NE winds, we will be back at it during the week and weekend. I do have weekday afternoons available for backbay Fluke and this week looks pretty good.
This past weekend I had return client Erik Hansen of Doylestown with his two buddies, Rodger Gensec and Michael Miele. We started working the backwaters for Fluke and the trio caught over 25 shorts with 4 keepers to 23 inches. We lost a nice fish boat side that was estimated at 26-28 inches (7-8 pounds). We finished the trip working the jetty with fresh bait for Striped Bass and the guys caught 3 Stripers to 26.5 inches. A great day on the water!!
Next, I had return client Mike Galindo out on a 4hr Fluke/Striped Bass charter with his two boys, Bennet and Mason. We worked the backwaters first and I would’ve thought the Fluke bite would’ve been better, but it was a tough bite today. The trio ended with one solid 22 inch keeper amongst the 20+ shorts. All the Fluke were caught on bucktails. We ended the trip fishing the Barnegat Inlet to release a 23-inch Striped Bass and Bluefish to 24 inches. We had a few run-offs that were mostly likely short bass. Tough day, but the guys still hit a Barnegat Bay slam (Bluefish, Striped Bass, Fluke).
I will be running weekday charters (3pm to 7/8pm) until school gets done on June 21st, then 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.
After closing out May with fishing on the slower side our expectations are high for this new month. We welcome June with open arms.
The local surf fishing off the surf has been slow and steady. Nothing spectacular but anglers are picking fish. Striped bass, bluefish and black drum are in the suds.
Todd Luyber got this 33″ bass yesterday plugging the surf. Todd reported, “It went for old reliable, yellow/black Daiwa SP Minnow. I dropped another fish too.”
Chris Masino caught a 30″ bluefish yesterday off the surf.
Kristi Reillo Cooper got a bluefish on the South End surf at 10 am. She reported, “Got a bite on first cast. Then hooked up on second cast. Only two bites of the day.”
Chris Colasante weighed in a black drum today. 29.5 pounds 39″ 26″ girth. He caught it off the mid island surf on clam.
Bayside fluke fishing is strong. Anglers are on them, some doing very well catching their limit.
Joe Pongonis of High Bar Harbor stopped in today with a nice fluke. He got a 26″ 6.16 pound fluke. He was fishing bay with bait, squid and spearing.
I had Brain aboard Fish Head Charters this morning for a light tackle trip striped bass – bluefish charter. The first hour was very slow but things picked up as the morning went on. We had cocktail blues in the 1-5 pound range chasing lures. After having fun with them, we tried to switch gears. The intel from up the beach was poor so we stayed in the bay. A short attempt at the flats only turned up one small bass. We looked around some more but couldn’t find much. Ended up finishing the trip working some more blues.
609-494-5739 
