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LBI Fishing Report Update July 12th

Mid summer on LBI is crazy. Especially this year. The area is busier than ever. Fortunately fishing is good so anglers can enjoy their time on the water catching. Here’s the Long Beach Island Fishing Report Update for Friday July 12.

On the bayside of Long Beach Island as well as the mainland towns, the peanut bunker are growing. Lots of peanuts at the docks and lagoons have the snapper bluefish hot on their tails. The bay is also loaded with blowfish. The bite has been very good and we look forward to these for the rest of the summer (fingers crossed).

Fluke fishing in the bay is consistent. Shorts with the some quality flounder were picked from Tuckerton. Reports from Barnegat Light were good too. The inlet has been the hotspot for land based fluke anglers. Both the rocks and the sand beaches on the north end have been hot (on and off) since opening day. Current report theme… shorts galore with 18-22” fish frequently.

While on the topic of land based fishing Long Beach Island, more specifically surf fishing… Potentially one of the hottest bites on the island right now is the kingfish (northern kingfish). Most of the fluke anglers are catching them be accident so they are thick. Anglers fishing with DynaBait (freeze-dried bloodworms), Fishbites (artificial bloodworms), small Gulp Baits (the most effective artificial of all time) and live blood worms are catching good. We suggest rigging up with a small hook high/low rig and a light weight 1-3oz.

It’s that time for ocean fluke fishing. It really gets good mid to late summer and into fall…. Recent reports from the reefs and wrecks are good. Some areas recently producing nice fish in the 22-25” fish with loads of sea bass. Sea robins have been relentless, so prepare accordingly! Blowing through Gulp baits is hard to prevent when on structure with lots of life.

Captain Mark Finelli from Laura Sportfishing reported a ton of sea bass. He was recently fishing a wreck about 15 miles off.

With the warm waters scattered reports of spanish mackerel and bonito mixed in with the cocktail blues. Further off, the Ridge had some bonito and spanish mackerel. There’s some cobia and mahi-mahi around.

The mid shore and offshore big game fishing has been one of the best runs we have seen in years. From the mid shore bluefin jigging, casting, chunking and trolling to the offshore yellowfin, bigeye, marlin, tilefish and swordfish, anglers are catching! The top products are Chatter Lures (side tracker spreader bars, splashing spreader bars and chains) as well as bullet head trolling lures from Joe Shute as well as the all new Magical Hoo-Magic.

The ghetto fishing both bayside and beachfront is fantastic. If your unable to kayak baits out, casting is producing. There’s an assortment of drag puling fish from dogfish to blackcaps and skates to rays. Go chunk em up and have fun!!!

Remember: Shark fishing is regulated by the State and federal regulations.  Federal regulations prohibit targeting any prohibited species and anglers must release any prohibited shark immediately, without removing it from the water and in a manner that maximizes its chances of survival. For example, Sand Tiger Sharks and Sand Bar Sharks are prohibited species, therefore posing for pictures on the beach with this species or any other species on the prohibited list is a violation of federal regulations. 

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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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