Ocean sea bass continues to provide consistent, immediate bent rods for us. All trips have quickly caught their limit of nice sea bass and we will continue to target wrecks for these tasty biscuits. After bending the rods we have been heading to the bay for fluke, working channel ledges, skinny water and deeper holes. Tides are key and outgoing bay water was pushing into the 80s this week with the heat, a bit too warm for the flatties to chew. We had 1 keeper on the last 2 trips and over 50 shorts. Lots of action but need the larger fish to feed. Soon the fluke will be moving out into the ocean and we will target the sea bass and fluke around wrecks and snags. Last year provided phenomenal ocean fluking for us and this year should be no different. We are fishing 7 days a week. Call, email, or text to book a trip. All tackle, bait, rods, and ice provided. Just show up to fish, catch, and have a great time on the water. Captain Kevin Schmidt www.oldbarneycharters.com 267-918-1746
The weather has been absolutely fantastic for July so far, although there is still a 20 degree swing from the incoming ocean water compared to ultra warm bay waters. We are still targeting some skinny water areas are are scoring 1 to 5 keepers per trip with 20 to 50 throwbacks. This past week we ran 7 charters in 4 days, so it’s been very busy to say the least. I going to try to run out to a few of my favorite snags this upcoming week to see if there is “charter-able” life out there for Ocean Fluke. But right now, it’s a-lot of working the bay areas. The rundown of the week’s trips are after the pics.
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.
I had return client Matt Windover, his brother Michael, and friend Charles Jack on a 5hr Bay/Inlet Fluke trip. We had some decent conditions today, but had to work a ton of locations to put something together. We finally found a few spots that had actively feeding keepers. The trio boxed 5 keepers (21, 20, 19, 18.25, 18) to round out the day. The guys did a great job fishing as they really worked for those fish!!
I had Stanley Gola of S&S bucktails with his son Junior, and two step-son’s Nick and Mike. Nick is home for a week from the Marines, so they wanted to get out and fish as a family. Thank you for your service Nick – be safe brother!! Stanley Junior struck first with a solid 22 inch Fluke, and we worked a less that perfect tide to box two other fish at 19 inches each. An awesome day and the foursome worked the S&S Bigeye hard in a less-than-optimal tide. 3 keepers for the S&S crew!!
My second of the trip of the day had new client James Guerin, Cassie Guerin, Ben Burtt, and Rod Guerin out for an afternoon bay/inlet charter. It was definitely hot out there today. We started working some very shallow areas and the group worked S&S Bigeyes to release a couple of shorts and they missed a few keepers as the fish came off at the surface. We kept at it, and Rod put a nice 6 pounder in the boat. The crew had lots of action, but could only muster one quality keeper. Nice job for their 1st ever time bucktailing!!
In the morning, I had new client Rich Sanborn of Levittown, PA with his two son’s Sean and Ryan. Sean is home for a week from the United States Navy – so thank you Sean for your dedicated service to our country!! We worked quite a few areas with the S&S Bigeye bucktail and the trio boated over 30 Fluke with 4 keepers (24, 21.5, 19.5, 18). Ryan was the heavy hook catching the 5.5 pound 24 inch on a white Bigeye bucktail. Nice job!
In the afternoon, I had Ali Gurko, her brother Vince and Corey Cordell on a 4hr Bay/Inlet charter. Vince served his country in United States Army for 4 years – thank you for your service. We worked some of the same areas, but had wind against tide which made for tough bites. The trio worked hard and jigged the S&S Bigeye over some shallow areas. Vince scored a solid 24.5 inch Fluke on the bucktail and then Corey nailed a solid 23-incher, followed by an 18in on the last drift.
On July 4th, I had return client Dave Rowan, his daughter Ashley Coleman, and her two boys Dylan and Andrew. This trip was more about putting the two young boys on fish, and keepers were a bonus. We worked quite a few areas and found a nice bite for the boys. The foursome boated over 30 fish with 2 nice keepers (21in, 22in) caught by Ashley. Dylan and Andrew caught their first Fluke in Barnegat Bay which is much more important than the keepers. Great job boys!!
Yesterday I had new clients Steve Meyer and his son Blake on a 4hr Bay/Inlet Fluke trip. We had good wind conditions in the morning, but a tough tide. The father and son team worked hard jigging the S&S Bigeye to find over 25 fish, but only one 19.5 inch keeper.
In the afternoon, I had new clients Eric Schoenfeld and his two boys Finn and Dylan on a 4hr Bay/Inlet trip. This time we had good tide, but horrible winds at 20 knots against the tide for the duration of the trip. The trio worked very hard to pull over 50 short Fluke over the rail (5 of shorts were between 17.5 and 17.75) and managed 2 keepers at 20.5 and 19.5 inches. A nice job in tough conditions.
Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July Holiday!
The heat wave has been real! Finally we are getting a break with a cold front sweeping in tomorrow (Friday). It looks a little hairy with thunderstorms. Onshore winds Saturday will give a nice ocean breeze and also put a building wind swell on the beach. The heat quickly sets back in with lots of sun after the weekend.
It’s great to see bait stacking up in the summer time haunts. Peanut bunker are in the lagoons and spearing are darting around the bay.
On the fishing front fluke is the main inshore species. Anglers are also working bluefish, weakfish and resident striped bass. The blues range from 1-3 pounds in the inlet and the bay is primarily filled with snappers.
Anglers are catching in the bay, inlet and ocean. We heard of good catches in Double Creek Channel on the north end as well as the Middle Grounds on the south end. Lots of customers are reporting an abundance of shorts with some finding quality.
Here’s Jim Bailey with a 22″ fluke caught in the bay on the 4th of July.
Some areas of the bay have water temps in the mid 80’s. The ocean surf is in the mid to low 60’s. With these very warm bay temps some of the anglers are looking in the ocean. We have yet to hear stella reports. BUT!!! Any day the open bottom as well as the local reef sites should get good.
Joe Medica was out on the water today with his son Tyler. They reported tons of shorts and managed this 26″ fluke, “Great day on the water!”
Carolyn Ann III Fishing Report
Here’s yesterday’s report from the Carolyn Ann III, “This morning was alot slower due to no drift at all. We were able to get a few nice fish.” Tuesday’s report was strong, “It was a good day on the CAIII today. A few real nice keeper fluke caught and some anglers caught a few sea bass. Everyone had a good time. There were a lot of sea robins, skates and sharks made the trip active and very fun for the kids.”
Here’s Ryan with a quality black sea bass caught aboard his father’s boat, the Kaley Marie
BHMTC Fluke-A-Mania
Due to poor weather forecast this weekend, the The Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club’s Fluke-A-Mania fluke fishing tournament has been postponed. The new date is August 24-25th. These are prime dates for fire fluke fishing!!!
Offshore & Mid Shore Fishing
The bluewater fishing has been great! Both offshore and mid shore anglers are hammering tuna. So far it’s turning out to be one of the best tuna bites we’ve seen in a long time. The consistency and quality of the fish is one to remember for sure. Hearing positive report after positive report day in and day out is awesome.
While the edge is teeing off with yellowfin, the bluefin action is strong too. Don’t overlook the mid-shore tuna grounds because there’s a lot to offer. The waters are loaded with sandeels and tuna are feeding. Anglers are getting into top feeds as well as jig and troll and chunk. Areas such as the Chicken Canyon and the Barcadi put out some very good fishing.
Ghetto Sharking
Local ghetto sharking is off the hook! Usually early July is just the beginnings. But this year’s very warm water temperatures (thanks to the heat wave) has the fishing primed and cranking!!!
Monday night I had Michael Nictakis and his son from Louisiana aboard Fish Head Charters for a four hour bay shark trip. We pushed off the dock at sunset and before dark set in we were hooked up with a SCREAMER. It nearly spooled the Penn 20LD twice. After the 20 minute tug of war the fish was boat side and turned out to be a monster 6.5′ sandbar shark. The night turned out to be consistent, picking a couple more each hour. All smaller ones.
Tuesday night the Fish Head was back on it with store staffers Max and Kelley aboard. Almost the same story… minutes in a rod goes off. I pick it up, set the hook and instantly knew I was in for a ride. Ten minutes in I was down to half a spool and the fish wasn’t phased. The Penn SSVI Spinfisher Spinning reel (SSVI6500LL) did it’s job putting out 17 pounds of drag to help subdue the beast. Turns out it was another bay monster with a bowling ball sizes mouth. This was bigger than Monday’s and possibly our biggest to date. Just short of 7′ with a thick head and shoulders. We estimate it was between 150-170 pounds… a definite a contender to John Norton’s currently retired NJ State Record 168lb 8oz sand bar shark from 1987.
We took off July 4th but are heading back out again tonight. I’m looking forward to fishing with Keith Dunton from Dunton Labs and Student Lauren from the Monmouth University. The goal is to stick some radio and spaghetti tags in fish. We are looking forward to working with his team and helping in the project this summer.
UPDATE: Check Out This Short Clip From Tagging With Dunton Labs
Over the past 10-15 years it has been amazing to watching this once endanger species come back so strong. Some time ago we were super happy catching one or two a night with one big fish a season. The past couple of years on prime nights we are getting 6-12 bites a night. Being a light tackle junkie, I think they are the best near shore bite. Nothing sends a hard set drag singing louder than a good size brownie.
As with any and all fishing, please know the regulations and respect the species.
Blue Claw Crabbing
Crabbing is good on the west side of the bay. Customers loading up on bunker for crab bait are having fun. Just a reminder, female terrapin turtles are active during the summers months. These critters frequently get into crab pots and drown. It’s law that any crab pots set in a body of water less than 150′ wide or any man made lagoon must be outfitted with a turtle excluder device. For those in need, this device orange (TED) is available here at Fish Heads. Due to their long history of decline, the terrapin is a very sensitive species of special concern, although not listed as an endangered species.
We are headed to the canyons to catch tuna. The bite is red hot and we have good intel on where to go. The boat is fueled, iced, and turn key ready to leave at 2AM tonight (Sunday), or technically tomorrow (Monday) morning. We have three guys signed up already and we take a maximum of four. $350 person, all fish are shared. Return around 4 or 5 PM on Monday. We have everything. Just bring whatever you want to eat and drink for the time we are out (14 to 15 hours). Wednesday’s canyon trip is sold out but we will be announcing more as we see nice weather windows coming up. As a result, these will be announced on short notice.
We are still sailing every day for inshore fishing which has been made up mostly of casting lures at 3 to 5 pound bluefish in the inlet. We will also be running trips to Barnegat Ridge for bonita, albacore and who knows what else if that blue water pushes in a little closer. Live grass shrimp is now available to us, so we will be mixing that in for bay and jetty fishing. It’s also time to start inshore sharking. Just three to four miles off the beach we chum for small sharks on light tackle. Most are 2 to 4 foot browns, spinners, and Atlantic sharpnose sharks.
Flawless weather has everyone enjoying all of the best LBI and the Shore has to offer. Beat the heat and get on the water. Anyone looking to get in on the fishing fun but needs guidance… stop in for help. We outfit anglers and boats on a daily basis and are stoked with the positive feedback. Lots of customers are getting into great fishing fun. Join in!
Store staffer max got a big fluke on yesterday morning (Saturday). He fished with fellow worker and friend Dave. They got into some good fishing using Magic Tail Jigs and TS Floaters tipped with Gulp.
The BHMTC Inshore/Bay Tournament (Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club Vs Village Harbor Fishing Club) went down Saturday June 30th. Here’s the results… BHMTC won the showdown. Heaviest Flounder was a 4.36 pounder caught by Mark Parker aboard the ABC. Mark also caught the largest weakfish was 1.8 pounds. The second biggest fish was 3.62 pounds that was caught by Tanner Johnson aboard the Shore Thing. The third largest fluke was Sweet Marlyn’s Brendan Graham who caught a 3.1 pounder. The largest bluefish was 13.16 pounds, caught by Chris Vohden aboard the Bad Buoy.
The warm weather and warm water means it’s shark time near/onshore, inshore/midshore and offshore. The recent shark tournaments have turned up some quality catches. Local anglers are getting in the fun too. Ryan Dellane was out and reported, “Great day shark fishing today with Brett Ekelmann. We ended the trip with a 6′ hammerhead shark and two little pup makos. All safely released.” A recent surf report came in from Vinnie Pena, “Hit the south end of LBI and went two for four. One brownie and one sand tiger which was about 8′.”
There’s a variety of shark species around from browns to sand tigers, makos to blue sharks as well as hammer heads and YES white sharks. This weekend local Captain Mark Finelli was out fishing and his son Babe hooked a strong creature. Once boat side it turns out to be a baby white shark! It was promptly and safely dehooked and released. One of the best parts of fishing is enjoying the water with family and friends but also the excitement that you never know what you are going to catch.
Baby white shark
Offshore bluewater fishing continues with productive waters on the midshore and offshore grounds. The weather has allows everyone (even small boats) to get out to the grounds and the reports are off the charts.
The yellowfin and bluefin bite is on with local boats putting up great numbers. Some are finding fish on top and having a blast casting lures. Here’s some reports…
Jeremy Gers reported, “Mahi, two mako, 15 tilefish, one white marlin release, 11 yellowfin up to 65lbs, five barrelfish and a grouper!”
Zach Michot was out With Dave Bently they found tuna and a shark found one of them!
Dan (@rosettostone) reported, “It’s a record year! Today (Saturday) we limited out on bluefin. It was another epic trip aboard the Linda Lee. We even got into action on spinning gear. The last two trips were the best fishing. I’m still stoked on a killer day… It’s not easy waking up at 1am to set offshore after work all week hunting these fish. It takes a lot of work and a lot more money.”
Captain Jeff aboard the Reel Innovation reported good action Saturday morning at the edge, “Nice yellowfin and white marlin!” First mate Dan D. shared, “We got covered up in nice size yellowfin tuna which made for a quick trip. Had six fish on at one time and landed five. Also raised and hooked up with a white marlin, so I got to leader my first whitie! We are heading back in the morning (Sunday) for an overnighter.” It’s great to see the crew’s hard work pay off. Their last trip out earlier in the week, one engine went down about 100 miles out. They got things fixed and quickly are back in the game.
Here’s Ilan hooked up down with a nice fish while the cockpit is loaded with flopping yellowbirds.
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