609-494-5739 The following Beach Haven LBI NJ Fishing Report is from Jim Hutchinson Sr of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association.
Summer has arrived in Beach Haven in force with typically high temperatures and a wide variety of fish for anglers fishing on the boats of the Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association.
Fluke are being caught in both the bay waters and in the ocean. Throwbacks still vastly outnumber keepers, but patience rewards those who work at it. The black sea bass season is back in, and although the daily limit is just two, at least we can keep some of legal size. Other fish making appearances in inshore waters include weakfish, bluefish, a few cobia, Spanish mackerel, and even some bonito. In addition, the tuna are lighting up the offshore waters.
The action has been improving for the head boat “Miss Beach Haven” captained by Frank Camarda. Keeper fluke are becoming common. A look at a recent day’s catch includes keepers to 4.2-pounds along with tons of dogfish, black sea bass, sea robins, and a few weakfish. The big excitement was a 20-pound class cownose ray. On one trip, a 5.25-pound fluke ruled the roost.
Captain John Lewis on the “Insatiable” reports the weather and the fishing have improved with a mix of fluke, sea bass and blowfish. The fish are moving around, and he works several spots to find locations with fish. His last half hour on a recent trip was non-stop action with seven fluke including two keepers. He is anxious to get in on some of the hot tuna fishing he has heard about.
Captain Carl Sheppard had the Horowitz family out recently on the “Star Fish” and the group caught over 30 fish. Included in the mix were many nice sized black sea bass.
Captain Alex Majewski of “Lighthouse Sportfishing” reports the fluking in the bay has been improving. However, the strong northwest wind means he must use power drifting for success. Captain Alex says he has been surprised by the presence of Atlantic thread herring. These bait fish are usually found much further south, He is still finding bluefish in the 5-6-pound range.
Captain Brett Taylor has been finding loads of action drifting for fluke in the Barnegat Inlet waters and channels leading to it. Despite winds that are often fighting the tides, he has been using his trolling motor with great success to find the fish. He is often fishing two parties a day with catches over 25 fluke common. Catches of 2-6 keepers a day seem to be the rule of thumb.
Captain Jimmy Zavacky had the “Reel Determined” 80 miles out looking for tuna recently. They found the fish to be plentiful and feisty. They ended the trolling trip with a bigeye tuna weighing 100-pounds and six nice yellowfin tuna ranging in weight from 30-60 pounds. He was fishing green squid spreaders, plugs, ballyhoo, a bomber and daisy chains.
Addition information on the BHCFA can be found at www.BHCFA.net.
