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LBI Fishing Report May 17th

So here we are smack dab in the middle of May enjoying rock solid fishing. This spring started off early and ramped up quick. Hope y’all are enjoying the ride (actively fishing and having a blast or following along here). Anyone who’s in on the action must concur… Fishing Is Phenomenal!

Anglers on Long Beach Island are catching morning, noon and night. Now’s the time to take advantage of great action in the bay, in the inlet and in the surf as well as the inshore and offshore waters. Read on…

Inshore Striped Bass Fishing

The inshore striped bass troll bite along Long Beach Island and Island Beach State Park is going off. There’s very big fish are here! The past couple of days were the real deal. Lots of fishermen catching 30# and 40# class. There were a surprising number of 50’s too!!! If you aren’t out hunting you are missing out on a chance to battle trophies.

Yesterday store staffer Max caught his personal best bass, 55 pound striped bass trolling a MagicTail Mojo.

Dan Rosetto got a hog.

Trevor Jones got a 49″ biggin’ on a Magictail Mojo.

Randy Townsend has been on the bite since it started. Recently fishing solo he had all 4 of his rods go off at once trolling spoons and mojos. Nice work landing all 4 fish Randy! That isn’t an easy challenge.

Fish Head Charters

I was stoked to put return client Brian from Bergan Country on his personal best striped bass today (Friday). We had some fun action with a smaller class of bass early and then went out on the hunt for large. This is the biggest bass for us fishing the local waters (was up in Raritan Bay for three weeks cheating) this spring. Thursday I had an awesome morning trip with Greg and Dom. We had fun with bass and blues. I then had JP on for an evening session. It stared slow but the second half was really good. Both bass and blues.

Long Beach Island Surf Fishing Report

Here on Long Beach Island the surf has a steady pick of striped bass and bluefish on fresh bunker chunks. Anglers have found fish on the entire stretch of LBI’s 18 miles of beach front from the north end to the south end and everywhere in between. Take a look back at some of our recent report posts for photos and specifics.

It looks Chris Masino’s good fortune from the Fall Derby has carried over to the spring! On Wednesday Chris landed a 32-lb 3-oz striped bass off the south end surf to take the lead in the LBI Spring Surf Fishing Derby. Chris gave us heads up, he is also been into bluefish regularly.

We heard of another really nice fish off the south end surf from Sean (@spsherwin). He got his first bass and really made it count checking in just under 30 pounds.

Shop local Chris Bender is hitting it hard!! He reports, “Many fish on the chunk and smaller fish on SP Minnows. I got a 36 pounder on a bucktail.”

Store Steve-o lost a nice bass in the surf last night on a bunker chunk and he will be returning tonight for redemption!!!

Barnegat Inlet Fishing Report

The Inlet is chock full of blues and bass. Anglers are having a blast working fish on lures of all sorts. Store staffer Pat was up on the Jetty this morning before work. He had one bluefish about 8 pounds and all the rest were cocktails, all on SP Minnows. Recently the bluefish size was on the smaller side however there’s a good chance some bigger ones will move through.

Speaking of bigger ones…

LBI’s Bayside Action

Chris O’Neil gave us heads up down his way (South End Of LBI & Great Bay) the bay is full of blues, “I was catching one after the other. Got about 30 of them. Most went back except for a few that will be shark bait.” Here’s a gator he got today.

The bay also offers good fun for anlgers targeting striped bass along the sod banks, flats and docks. Some quality black drum fishing is going down too.

The night haunts offer really good variety with bass and blues on bucktails and soft plastics.

Store staffer Blake is into blues on the bayside. He said, “I’m catching blues in the 2-5 pounds on poppers. Lots of fun”

Store Staffer Frezza has been fishing the local bay areas catching schoolie bass and cocktail blues!

Sea Bass Fishing

Black Sea Bass Opened On May 15th and anglers are out there catching.

Rob Vallone headed to the Sea Bass grounds this morning aboard the Carolyn Ann III. He reported, “Baseball bat ling, along with many nice knot head sea bass. The pool winner was 4lbs.”

Store Staffer Kelley and his Dad took the maiden voyage on there new boat and got into some awesome fishing on Thursday!! Many other boats report catching their limits of sea bass.

Bob Long was in the shop today gearing up for another sea bass trip. He’s looking forward to fishing aboard the Mary M with Captain Sam. Bob Shared, “I was out opening day aboard the Carolyn Ann III. It was an awesome trip.” The boar reported, “Best Sea Bass Fishing We’ve seen in a while. Lots of limits with nice size fish.”

Offshore Big Game Fishing

It’s time! The offshore big game fishing is popping off. Reports of giants were confirmed. There’s beautiful water out there so it’s time to get in the game. Just a heads up the midshore grounds could be a good place to look for small(er) boats looking for big fish. We had a couple reports of quality fish just outside the 30 line!

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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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