There is some really nice water about 3-5 miles off the beach. What I mean by nice is canyon blue. And with that nice water comes fish that don’t usually venture in this close to LBI, like this nice 15 lb. Mahi my friend Dan got Sunday about 5 miles off the beach. This AM I ventured out into the nice water for a bit. The buoys in contact with this tropical water are holding pilot fish, banded rudderfish, and Amlaco jacks. You really need to be on you fish ID A game when trying to correctly identify these southern visitors. Small lures or pieces of bait are the way to go when targeting them. Unfortunately, I did not connect with any of the southern speedsters like kingfish or Mahi this morning when trolling. There are even loosely connected Sargassum weed lines in the nice water.

Still feisty blues in the 2-4lb range mixed in with schoolie bass to be had when the conditions are right around the inlet. Some of these blues I cleaned recently are getting ready to spawn. The bottom around the inlet seems to be paved with short fluke at times with catch rates of 10-15 fish an hour not uncommon. The keeper fluke has been a little shy my last few trips. I think it was due to the New Moon that just past. The current was rip-roaring most of the time and the back bay was flooded at high tide. I usually do better with bigger fluke during times of slower current which is now. Here is also some picture of a trip where there were three, that’s right three, people with the name Alex on board the Debbie M. First time ever and talk about confusion. Every time someone said Alex, three heads turned. I tapped out after five minutes and told those on board to address me as Capt Alex to minimize the confusion 

I have Friday and Saturday open if you want to come on board and have some light tackle fun!

Also doing 2-hour kayak ecotours through LBIF around Cedar Bonnet Island on Thursdays.

Screaming drags,

Capt Alex
609-548-2511

The past few days were beautiful especially in the mornings! Fair winds and seas allowed anglers to get out and fish. Even the small boats reached out and got on the inshore bluewater hunt.

Al Stella was out Friday inshore-midshore trolling again (See August 7th Report), “No kingfish like last trip but I did score a real nice mahi that hit a green / yellow Zucker. Also had a few Bonita too. The water was 79 degrees and full of flying fish. Heard there was early bite on the Kings but I missed it.”

Chris O’Neill and friends pushed off in search of life and found it. “We fished about 15 miles off LBI. The water temperature was in the upper 70’s. Got two 50″ mahi, one bonita and four king mackerel. All on the troll. Anything green in the spread was good.”

Other customers in the shop restocking his fishing tackle shared bonita at the Ridge.

Max Lentz was out on the water and put a nice catch together on Friday… sea bass, fluke and a mahi!

We had a weigh in on Friday from Matt Sorrentino. He was out on the bay today working the waters of Great Bay. He caught a nice 19″ 4.04 pound triggerfish. He also reported loosing a good sheepshead.

LBI Late Summer Fishing Outlook

Summer’s in full swing and the local waters have A LOT to offer. It’s awesome to see all of these species here; banded rudderfish, black sea bass, blueclaw crabs, bluefish, bonita, cobia, fluke, kingfish, mahi, marlin (white and blue marlin caught offshore), sheepshead, spanish mackerel, striped bass, tog, tuna (yellowfin, bluefin and big eye), triggerfish, wahoo, weakfish and all sorts of sharks. Now’s the time to get out and enjoy the smorgasbord on tap.

The amount of bait in our waters is an amazing sight to see. The variety and abundance is promising. The bay is full of baby bunker, spearing, anchovies and snappers. In the ocean bunker is podded up and there’s clouds of bay anchovies and blankets of sandeels. The stage is set for a rocking fall run.

Fish Head Charters

The anglers aboard the Fish Head enjoyed fun fishing this week. With a variety of species there’s all sorts of fishing opportunities. From bucktailing fluke to fly fishing schoolie striped bass… light tackle bluefish to quick hitting sea bass… even night time toothy bayside brutes (brown sharks).

Resident striped bass continue to make their presence know with awesome light tackle game. Cocktail bluefish crash the party adding to the excitement. Fluke fishing is great on quantity but there’s no denying the quality isn’t where we would all like it to be. Some days putting together a catch of keepers is difficult especially with no drift.

Friday I had Mike Fitzgerald aboard today for a morning 5 hour power trip. We pushed off the dock at 5am, made bait (line baby bunker and snappers). Before the sun poked, Mike was into active fish casting lures. The top water feed put on a great “top of the morning” visual. After catching a bunch of cocktail blues from 1-4 pounds and bass, we switched gears.  With four nice keepers yesterday, we set our sights on the same reef site. First drop produced a keeper sea bass. It was full of life with short fluke and sea bass with little to no garbage. [I managed to hook an unexpected catch… a bonita on a Gulp! tipped jig. With 76 degree pretty bluewater only five miles offshore you never know what’s around.] As time went on the drift slowed and even  power drifting couldn’t outwit. With only a little time left in our session we decided to run back and give it a few drifts in the bay. We picked more a handful of fish in a couple short drifts but no quality. Everything considered it was a great day on the water with lots of fish caught and released.

Hot New Products

Jersey Fluke Belly

Jersey Fluke Belly is a 6″ soft plastic scented bait. It’s ribbed “ribbon” texture that looks and fishes like real fluke belly and it’s saltwater buffet scent attracts and makes fluke hold on. Unlike some soft baits, Jersey Fluke Bellies do not dry out. They stay soft forever in the jar or even on the hook when left out. Be sure to check them out to increase your fluke game!

NorthBar junior Bottle Darter

Please welcome the Northar Bottle Darter’s little brother. If you are looking for a small-medium sized lure that attracts big fish this is it!

The all new Northbar Junior Bottle Darter fills a huge need in anglers lure bags offering the same great casting, incredible action and durability, just in a smaller size and weight (1-5/8oz, 6″ long).

Devastation Down In Florida

I’m sure most have seen the devastation photos on social media. If you haven’t… sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The destruction is not from any storm but from water pollution. The fish kill caused by it is horrific and not localized.

Florida anglers are accustomed to red tide events. But no one has seen a bloom of this magnitude. Decades of fish stocks have been slaughtered. From bait fish to large game fish as well as marine mammals a diversity of species affected is astonishing.

For information about the problem check out this video from The Everglades Trust and be sure to follow Captains For Clean Water.

Barnegat Bay Slams- [ stripers, blues, fluke] ! continue to be very obtainable with the most novice anglers not only scoring them but some of the more veteran anglers scoring multiple slams on the same outing!!

Summer Striped bass continue to be the main interest for our light tackle enthusiasts and their interest have been rewarded with some anglers scoring well into the double digits catches!!

Fluke fishing is non stop with too many fish too count ! When targeting these flatties it’s is actually hard to stay up with baiting and netting at the catch pace we have seen. This is mostly and catch and release due to the high volume of shorts but keepers are hitting the ice as well.

Bluefish have been more hit or miss strangely and are some times the harder part of the Barnegat Bay Slam [ striper, fluke, bluefish] but are running in sizes from 1-4lbs.

Seabass and tog are also readily  available on the inshore wrecks, snags and rocks with more “drop and reel” action.

It’s not too early to start thinking about your Fall Striped bass fishing trip! Don’t delay ! Reserve today!!

Join us on Face book  to view pics, videos and latest fishing reports and Like and Share us .

Wishing everyone fair winds and calm seas,

Captain Steve Purul

Reel Fantasea Fishing Charters

609-290-1217

Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Tuesday August 7, 2018.

The first half of summer is in the books and the second half is raging on. Today was the first sunrise in the six o’clock hour. Thursday will be the last sunset in the 8pm hour. With only 27 days to Labor Day now’s the time to get out on the water and enjoy fishing in the Long Beach Island area.

High pressure over the Wester Atlantic offers a good stretch of quiet weather. Get out and enjoy!

Inshore Fishing

LBI’s summertime inshore fishery is primarily made up of bottom fishing for fluke and sea bass. Rightfully so… they are both good eats! Right now the local reef sites are heating up and producing both species. The past weeks has offered good fishing for the anglers that are dialed in. With the August new moon on Friday we expect to see more fluke push out and onto the structure.

Store staffer Willie was out today fishing with some friends. He reported, “It started off slow with shorts and trash. Later in the morning we had a better drift and more consistent bite. Found a spot in 70′ of water holding nice fish. Most were caught on pink Gulp and large natural baits. The largest fluke was 26”.

Tog are also an option (as of August 1st, 1 fish at 15″).  The only reports we’ve received were from the Barnegat Inlet Jetty. Blackfish are present but no positive word on keepers. Expect the size to be small with the summer residents, but as time goes on and the waters cool the larger ones will pop in. Traditionally we can get a good jetty tog bite in September and October.

Al Stella enjoyed fun fishing with his wife on Monday. They pushed off looking for bonita. About 10 miles off they found 76 degree bluewater and went on the troll with feather chains and Clark Spoons on planers. They caught some KING MACKEREL as well as bonita! Here’s Al with a pair of Kings!

Surf Fishing

The surf fluke fishing continues with consistent fluke catches on the staple, bucktail jig tipped with Gulp. Anglers fishing live minnows have the advantage on slower days. One customer in the shop reported catching two shorts while another angler fishing close by had six in the same hour but on live bait.

Small blues and kingfish are also along the surf with occasional reports stretching the entire island. For those looking to fish the beaches right now, we suggest going early in the morning and/or late in the day to beat the heat and the beach going traffic. Targeting either Barnegat Light on the north end or Holgate on the south end might help but not much. Hunting down an open stretch of beach may be difficult but not impossible. When walking we suggest talking to the lifegaurd on duty. Introduce yourself and let them know your plans. It’s good when you’re on the same page. Hey you never know… they might tell you where they recently saw other anglers catch.

Offshore Big Game Fishing

The offshore and mid-shore big game fishing this season is  very good. Recently the chunk bite turned on and took it to the next level! Anglers fishing the tuna grounds are getting bloody with solid reports from the canyons as well as the 40 fathom line areas about 50 miles off of our local area. Pick your poison… all methods (troll, chunk, jig) are catching.

Captain Jeff on the Reel Innovation shared this report, “Bigeye, white marlin, blue marlin, tilefish and yellowfin rounded out our trip! The word is out about the yellowfin chunk bite as well as the big eye bite. Over a hundred boats were stacked up Monday morning. We fished hard and got the bites we needed.” First mate Dan added, “Marlin, tuna and tile action during the day and then then yellowfin tuna on the chunk and jig at night!”

Howard Clark was out on the mid-shore grounds recently. He reported lots of life and good fishing, “Whales breaching and blankets of sand eels…  tossed a jig in and got hit right away.” It was a good one! Another angler Justin Swanson was fishing the same area reiterated the bite was on, “We got out there early and it was game on! Only three boats working the area and we were all into fish. By 9am more showed up and came in.  I stayed on my original morning’s mark and had action the whole time.”

Our Penn Reels sales rep Jim O’ was out at the canyon recently and smoked ’em! “We got 15 yellowfin!”

Jim Perkins recent offshore trip was a success. He and crew hauled in three big eye tuna up to 130 punds!

Dan Rosetto reported a great day offshore with the boyz with both mahi and yellowfin in the box!

Fish Head Charters

I had Jake and Joe aboard for a Monday morning charter. We started off with a productive light tackle dawn patrol fishing small plugs (mostly Daiwa SP Minnows). Fish Heads introduced Jake to striped bass putting him on his first. After catching a few linesiders and some bluefish (up to 5lbs) we switched gears and headed off to a local reef. Our first drift produced a couple short fluke and two keeper sea bass. Our next drift a keeper fluke and another keeper sea bass. Then it slowed down. We fished a couple hours and headed in. Others in the area reported good things early too.

Today (Tuesday) Fish Head regular Bob Bruns was on deck for an early morning fly fishing session. It turned out to be one of the best morning’s of the summer. Consistent action all day with both striped bass and bluefish hammering the fly. Clousers, deceivers and epoxy fly foil anchovies all made by yours truly! It was game on. Catching on double digit striped bass on the fly in August with not another boat around is a special day.

Strike while the iron is hot, so they say. Having just guided my wife and a friend to second and first place in a recent women’s fluke tournament, respectively, I tossed my hat into the JCAA fluke tournament this past Saturday. After making bait in the early sunrise hour we headed for the lighthouse are to fish the end of the tide. We got into a nice bite of keeper fluke but the bigger ones kept getting off. It really hurts when you lose a true doormat and there is well over $1,000 on the line, literally if you know what I’m talking about. After that, we took a break a regrouped for the afternoon cooler water incoming. With the bay holding in the low 80’s outgoing tide is not the best time to fish right now. But if that is only when you can fish, you fish. With some fresh live bait in the live well round, two started slow. But around 4 PM I felt the telltale sign of a nice fluke pouncing the live bait in about 20 feet of water. The hook set was typical of a flukezilla, you feel like you are stuck at first but once you free the fluke from being suctioned to the bottom you get some head shake then line peeled off your spool. The fish weighed 6.8 lbs and took second place in the JCAA Fluke Tournament for the Barnegat Bay port (pic attached). We also took first in one of the Calcutta  Once again live bait does it job. Those that know me or have fished with me know I am a live bait specialist. The way I look at it, artificials are called artificials for a reason they are trying to mimic the real thing. And when the real things are available why fish artificial? That’s the way I fish, plain and simple.

Monday I did two trips. The first trip with the Fields started around the inlet. Conditions were good but the bite was slow landing a couple 2-4 pound blues. After that we went sharking which was unexpectedly slow. We landed one small brown that came up our slick and took a pitched bait and got bit off. Cool stuff. Quite a few schools of bunker around the tires and a few miles in from of the inlet which was nice to see as they have been absent most of the summer after being sucked up by the bunker boats that came up from the south. I hate those boats and it kills me that there is no peer-reviewed research supporting the benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids. So we are totally messing up the food chain to make something that probably does not work but puts money in the pockets of a select few. My mind is blown on that one! Ok, off my soapbox. Monday afternoon trip was with father and son, Joe and Joseph Astraukas. We started off fluking and the bite was hot. As what has happened in prior years the bottom around the inlet is paved with fluke. Mostly shorts, but I already let you know how to catch keepers so I ’m not going there now. Joseph, 6, in attached picture catch at least a dozen shorts in about 2 hours of fishing. After fluking we hit the inlet to catch the cooler incoming water. There, Joe the father, managed a schoolie bass and some blues on BKDs giving him a Barnegat Bay Slam. I think I have had the most slams this summer thanks the healthy population of schoolie bass.

On the nature side of things: moo over Rover and let the cow-nose rays take over. The abundance of cow-nose rays over the last few years brings up a lot of questions like: why are they here; why are there so many, etc. to answer why they are here it is due to climate change and the average ocean temperature getting warmer. As the waters warm out front, look for new species to arrive taking Mother Nature’s cue that you can now survive in waters north of your historical range. I looked up cow-nose ray in Fishes of the Chesapeake Bay which was first published in 1928. This book is kind of like the Bible to Middle Atlantic States ichthyologists (people that study fish). I purchased my copy when I was in high school. Guess I was a nerd or something hehehe What the book has to say about cow-nosed rays is “This ray was not seen during the present investigations, and although previously recorded from the Chesapeake Bay it is evidently rare. So there you have it, we now have cow-nosed rays because the water is warmer.

Have some spots available if you wanna catch a Barneatg Bay Slam or just target a species give me a call.  Also offering 2 hr kayak eco-tours on Thursdays around Bonnet Island

Screaming drags

Capt. Alex

609-548-2511

Sunday 8/5 I was out on an 8hr fluke trip. The action was very slow with barely any bites or short fluke throughout portions of the day. After making several moves all over the place and having to work very hard considering we did not have a drift, we scraped together 8 nice keepers and 1 sea bass. We tried finding one more keeper to limit out but couldn’t produce. All in all it was a slow day of fishing but the keepers were all quality fish.

Last week we also made it out for a clamming trip. The weather was perfect except for a little rain and everyone had fun. The group caught enough clams for steamers, chowder, and stuffed clams.

Fluke fishing has been slowly but steadily getting a little better each trip. Some trips see much more action that others but the amount of keepers being caught is going up. I still have some dates available in August as well as September. Call or text Captain Mike to get in on the action! (609)-709-7264

Today August 4th was the 24th Annual Jersey Coast Anglers Association Fluke Tournament. We had 19 boats fishing “Port Long Beach Island” and 12 of them check in fluke. The common feedback from all was “a rough and sloppy morning.”

Most of the anglers reported fishing in the ocean at the local reef sites such as Barnegat Light Reef, Little Egg Reef and the Garden State N&S Reef. A few boats fished the ocean’s open sand bottom lumps. Some stayed in the bay working the more calm protected waters.

Our Port’s largest fish was caught by Kevin Cliver of Sellersville, NJ. His 27″ 8.64 pound fluke ate a live minnow near Barnegat Inlet. Kevin reported catching few fish but the one was quality. Looking back at past year’s log we found Kevin won the JCAA Port LBI in 2015 with a 6.82 pound fluke.

Final Results For The 2018 JCAA 24th JCAA Fluke Tournament – Port: LBI

Congrats to all of the angler who fished! We are all hoping for better weather next year.

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association Fishing Report

by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

The fishing in Beach Haven has returned to normal as clear weather and warm temperatures have become the order of the day once again. Stronger than usual winds are present, but the captains of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are using their know-how to find fish.

The offshore bite continues to be hot. Captain Bob Gerkens fished the “Hot Tuna” in the Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club’s White Marlin Invitational Tournament with a crew of Andres Hernandez, Pete Nork, Erick Pollard and Matt Ruark. Early on Friday three yellowfin tuna to 52-pounds were boated and a little later four big eye tuna were on at the same time. Three of the four were boated at about 90-pounds. Having used up the boats holding capacity, the “Hot Tuna” headed back to dock at 11:00AM, even though the Tournament permitted fishing until 3:30.

Captain Jimmy Zavacky fished the “Reel Determined” in the same tournament and took a fifth place based on his tuna catch.

Closer to shore, the “Starfish” with Captain George at the helm, had a group of seven anglers from Pennsylvania out on a beautiful weather day. The fish were ready to bite, and over 80 fish were caught. The party returned to the dock with nine keeper black sea bass, one fluke and two Spanish mackerel in the box.

Captain Brett Taylor of “Reel Reaction” Sportfishing has been spending much of his time fishing the bay and inlet waters with family groups. He has been fighting strong winds but scoring with various techniques to beat the conditions. He had the Winkler family from Pittsburgh out with two young children on a bay and inlet charter. The family ended up boating over 30 Fluke with seven year old Hudson catching a pair of 19-inch fluke and a cocktail bluefish. The Sigillo family from Beach Haven West with three children were out with Captain Brett. They fished a few different areas and released some 71 Fluke while boxing 3 keepers one bluefish. All fish were caught on bucktails.

Additional information on the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association can be found at www.BHCFA.net