609-494-5739 Here’s the weekend report update for Sunday October 13th. Did you notice the title doesn’t say fishing report? That’s because this past week was a blowout and few reports came in!
The Nor’ Easter – Melissa
The strong low pressure, dubbed subtropical storm Melissa, finally weakened and lifted out. But she left her mark!
The lineup of weather recently was cranking NorthEast winds for what seemed like a week or two. Then Melissa cranked up Thursday – Friday serving a beastly blow which stacking up the coastal water. She wouldn’t allow the full moon “king tides” out. Water in the streets seem like the norm now but this event was deep! By all accounts, the worst flooding since Sandy.
Worried boat owners late to action found boat ramps unusable with water in the parking lots and streets. We heard of a few boats that sunk and some that were just narrowly rescued.
The crazy winds damaged some building. The sign and overhang at Ravioli’s & More was ripped.
Melissa made an angry sea and due to the duration of the event, the beaches were battered. Erosion chewed out beaches and dunes exposing parts of jetties that haven’t seen light in year. The beaches and bars are “reset” so it’s time to start scouting out your fall fishing spots!
LBI Fall Classic
The Long Beach Island Fall Derby aka Fall Classic kicked off last weekend. As of the end of tournament day Sunday October 13 one fish is on the board. On October 7th Matteo Delmonico weighed in the tournament’s first fish, a 9.72 pound striped bass. For more information on the tournament www.LBISFT.com
LBI Surf Fishing Report
While scoring some surf on Saturday I spoke with anglers on the beach. The general consensus… slow fishing. The only fish I heard caught were a couple cocktail blues, a kingfish and an out of season fluke. All of this was on the south end of the Island.
The surf temp has a cool feel to it. Will take a guess and claim it’s 63, max 66. The water was surprisingly clean.
Mid October Fishing Outlook For LBI
Heading into the middle of October chilly temps are right around the corner. The days are getting shorter and water temps slowly drop. The mullet run will soon be in the rear view mirror and the migration will arrive. They will be here soon! (see Pat’s short report below) How long they stick around for… only time will tell.
Today our friend Capt Pat aboard Forever Two Worlds from Rockaway Beach NY went out to shake the dust off things. He reported, “After the long blow, I needed to get out. Did a quick look and found quality bass that were on the chew. They wanted Magictail Mojos!“
While Pat’s report is from water about 50 miles away, it goes to show the fish are on the move. Last year classy fish showed in our local waters towards the end of October. The year before (2017) we had big ones arrive October 20 and 21st. Are you ready?
Today’s Tog Fishing Report
We got one report today from Fish Head Alumni Bill Bassant. He stopped in, got some green crabs and hit the water. He looked around at some areas and tried to hunt some fish in the backwater on the flats and sod banks. Notta! He switched over to tog fishing and caught two; a three pounder and a five pounder.
