We hope everyone enjoyed there Memorial Day Weekend. The weather was flawless and fishing was very very good. Here’s a recap of just a sliver of what went down.
LBI Surf Fishing Report
Today Monday May 27th is Day 31 of the Long Beach Island Spring Surf Fishing Tournament. There’s lots of great fishing going down right now. The tournament is on until June 23rd. Right now the largest striped bass is held by Aaron Krieg with a 38.2 fish. It was caught on Saturday May 25th from the mid-island surf on bunker. The largest bluefish is held by Kevin Laverty with a 16.34 fish (caught on 5/3). Kevin has had a great season so far. Just recently (yesterday) he caught an 18.76 striped bass on bunker fishing a mid-island beach. For more information on the LBI Spring Surf Fishing Tournament go to www.LBIFT.com
Ryan Fitzgerald fished the Harvey Cedar surf this afternoon and got this striped bass chunking bunker.
Sunday morning Tom Smith and friend Dan Sook got a paid of bass off the Ship Bottom surf chunking bunker.
Over the weekend our regular customer Jason shared a fishing story with us. He was fishing with his buddy Craig and his A-Team Friday night. Jason said, “I was catching dog fish after dogfish chunking bunker. It got late and I needed a pick me up so I took a trip for an energy drink. I get back on the beach to find out I missed a short lived but bite. While I was gone the boys released three bass two over 40 inches.” It all went down about 11:30 to midnight.
Land Based Fluke Fishing Reports
With more anglers searching for fluke on the surf comes more reports.
Extreme Philly Fishing, Leo Sheng stopped in and geared up with some essentials. He reported back, “There’s good fluke fishing at the Jetty but no keepers. The bluefish went off with folks catching lots of 1-3 pounders. One dude caught a nice gator 10lbs+.”
Mike Nini was out land based fluke fishing and reported lots fish, “It was good, almost every cast.”
Sean Booth weighed in an 8lb fluke yesterday afternoon. He got it fishing with his feet on land using a bucktail tipped with Gulp.
Striped Bass Fishing Report
The troll bite for striped bass isn’t epic but daily there’s a pick of quality fish. Pulling spoons and mojos are the way it’s done. Rick Bragg got a big bass today trolling off IBSP.
Greg record fishing Junior angler Greg Kopenhaver III caught this 45.3 pound striped bass aboard Yahoo Fishing during the LBI Cup this weekend. It’s a pending Beach Haven Marlin Tuna Club junior angler Record Catch!
Captain Ken Nutt aboard the Striper reported good fishing this weekend trolling striped bass. Jake and Mike Turner got in on a great trip with quality size fish. Their largest was 56.9 pounds, a new board best!
Sea Bass Fishing Report
Captain Mark Finilli of Laura Sportfishing reported very good fishing for black sea bass, “Sea bass fishing is hot. We are pounding limits and having a blast!” Anyone looking to get out and fishing with Captain Mark should book a data asap. Call 856-341-6562
Black Drum Fishing
The drum fishing seems to slow from the prime time late April to early/mid May action, but they are here none the less. Today Mark Borsellino caught this one jigging a bucktail near Little Egg Inlet. Looking for fluke he got a drum!
Barnegat Bay Fluke Fishing Report
Store staffer Max reported his father and grand father enjoyed the holiday on the bay hunting fluke. He said they fished the bay, getting seven flounder, two keepers, “It was good on the outgoing tide with Gulp Shrimp but it got windy.”
Small blues are roaming the bay popping up in different areas. The small turns (birds) give them away. Lots of fun for the kids and also a blast on light tackle. Speaking of light tackle…
Saltwater Fly Fishing Report
Bob Bruns a passionate fly angler enjoyed the weekend fishing the fly on the waters of Long Beach island. He jumped aboard Fish Head Charters on Friday and caught both striped bass and blues with Captain Greg. On Saturday he wade fished some bayside areas and found bass and blues again. Then on Monday (today) he was on with Greg again. The fishing was much slower but both bass and blues were on the menu. A ton of fun on the fly rod!
Any fly anglers looking for information or some essentials should stop by the shop. Anyone looking to get into fly fishing we would love to introduce you to the fun subsection of fishing. Learning a new technique is game changing.
Big Game Fishing
The early season tuna bite continues and sharks are showing too. It’s time to get out there and do battle!
Dave Bertam was out fishing about six miles out of Barnegat inlet with some friends Brian Tart and Jeremiah Douglas this weekend. They tangled into this monster thresher shark that took over two hours to reels it! It weighed in a 303 pounds.
Chris Degennaro and crew got a 392 bluefin tuna, “After getting the skunk last weekend we worked a miracle. After a 2.5 hour battle on a Penn VISXS30 we landed a big bluefin.
Store staffer Pat fished about 30nm offshore of Barnegat Inlet on Saturday with his dad Mike and his buddy John Kelley. Pat reported, “The area had tons of whale and small bait. Went on the troll and marked scattered fish. It was a long day, but patience paid off! It took until 3pm for the bite and it was a good one on a blue/white Joe Shute rigged with a large ballyhoo. An hour and a half battle and the 81″ bluefin tuna was on the deck.
Dan Rosetto and friends fished the midshore grounds (only 23 nm out of Barnegat Inlet) and found whales all over with bluefin under them. They limited out with two unders and one over. Biggest was 56″. All the action was on Chatter Lures Side Tracker Bars.
The 57′ Jersey Nuts made its debut offshore this weekend and it did not disappoint! Captain Cody took the Gibson party to the edge and fished by themselves all day keeping their limiting of under bluefin and releasing many more. Cody reported, “Fishing was so good, it was a tough day to keep count. All fish ranged from 30-55 pounds. Nothing better than getting the first blood on deck.”