Beach Haven Charter Fishing Report – October 5, 2018

Beach Haven Charter Fishing Report

Update October 5, 2018

by Jim Hutchinson Sr.

Although the summer flounder season in New Jersey has ended, the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association are putting together some good catches bottom fishing on the inshore artificial reefs and structure further offshore. This fishing will receive a shot in the arm when the fall season for black sea bass re-opens on Monday, October 8, with a 10-fish per day limit.

Captain Carl Sheppard had an outstanding trip on the “Star Fish” recently. The annual trip of the Eppinger family was a great success with a wide variety of fish caught. The weather cooperated with nice sea conditions and a sunny 80-degrees. A total of 200 fish were brought to the boat including many large black sea bass to 18-inches and fluke, both of which had to be released. Captain Carl estimated about 45% of the sea bass were keeper sized. For a while they caught bluefish until their arms tired and then shifted to bottom fishing. They kept 14 two-pound bluefish and 6 triggerfish. The best fishing was in over 100-feet of water.

Captain Lindsay Fuller had the Jim Warren party on the “June Bug” recently, and they located quite a few pods of peanut bunker and a few rainfish pods as well. No fish appeared to be feeding on the bait, however. They trolled up a small Atlantic Bonita and a small Spanish mackerel. They ended the day on the Little Egg Reef where they found bottom action including a large fluke that was released. Captain Lindsay is hoping water temps cool off soon to activate the striper action.

Captain Gary Dugan is gearing the “Irish Jig” up for striper season. Until that action begins, he is wreck fishing and trolling inshore for bluefish, bonito, mahi, and other similar species. He says dates are filling up fast for the fall run.

Captain Jimmy Zavacky reports things have slowed a bit for the “Reel Determined” once fluke season closed. Captain Jimmy notes the 2018 fluke season was a good one with a lot of keepers. He is now booking black sea bass and striper trips and is looking to get offshore this weekend if weather permits.

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

 

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!

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