Fishing Report Update May 2, 2019

A man holding a striped bass on the water.

If you are sitting on the sidelines waiting you’ve missed out on a lot of great fishing. However if you get in the game now you aren’t too late. May is a time when things kick into high gear! Go Fish!

The bay side is alive with striped bass as well as the new arrival of bluefish.

Steve George shared this report, “Early week lots of action with tog (now closed… you snooze you loose), bluefish, stripers and… my first fluke of 2019! The blues are inconsistent and not schooled up but it’s starting. Some were about 20″ and one at 36” or so.

Today (Thursday) anglers fishing the Barnegat Inlet Jetty as well as surf had fish. Bass and blues are moving through. A couple customers in the shop reported catching. One angler Jeff reported releasing a 21″ fluke

Store staffer Blake fished Wednesday evening after work. He reported, “Bass and small blues in the mix blowing up on the Stillwater Smack-It Popper.” Tuesday night store staffer Dan D got into good action with bass too on Sebile Stick Shad Lures.

LBI Spring Surf Fishing Derby

Day 6 Update: Gary Grippaldi leads the tournament with his 23.54 pound striped bass bass. Mike Gowen holds the top bluefish spot with his 14.3 pound yellow eye. TJ Loughran is the high hook with three bass on the board, up to 20 pounds. All on bunker on the mid-island surf.

Sign Up Now For The LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament

Author: FishHead.Greg

Greg Cudnik is a Long Beach Island native with lifelong experience fishing and navigating the local waters. He is a distinguished Master Captain—the highest level of operator licensing—holding a U.S. Coast Guard Masters 50-Ton Near Coastal License with Towing Endorsement. Raised in and now managing his family’s bait and tackle business, Fisherman’s Headquarters (est. 1962, The Saltwater Fishing Bait & Tackle Experts), Greg is immersed in fishing on a daily basis. He is the Chief Contributor of FishingLBI.com, Long Beach Island’s leading fishing report blog, and serves as the administrator of Fisherman’s Headquarters’ social media channels on Instagram and Facebook, where he shares real-time fishing reports, conditions, and tactics. Be sure to follow along.