Gannets And Game Fish… It’s Game On! The run arrived and it’s time to fish! There’s sand eels and bunker stretched along the beaches and with the late October new moon phase here, now’s a really good time to go hunt for trophy size striped bass.

Here’s a comprehensive the fishing report to update for Monday evening, October 28, 2019. Let’s dive into the the recent action recap.

Jersey Shore Striped Bass Fishing

In the past 5-7 days the Jersey Shore striped bass fishery progressed leaps and bounds. With the arrival of gannets and a healthy first wave of fish the local water are improving. On Thursday a couple striped bass were picked by local anglers working on the troll. Friday the bite improved and showed some special moments. Saturday was all out, nothing short of spectacular. Some calling it a bite of epic proportion. A quick look at social media and it’s clear Saturday morning was one for the memory books! From trolling to jigging and casting lures on top the striped bass were snapping. The areas from Seaside north was productive.

Store staffer Paul got a heifer on a Doc. These top water spooks are one of the best big fish top water lures. If you don’t have one in your arsenal… get one now!

Sea Shell Striped Bass Derby

Coincidentally, the Sea Shell’s Striped Bass Derby (this weekend) had solid results. The majority of boats ran north and fished the waters from Seaside to Manasquan where a good body of fish was holding. Would be interested to see how this year’s Derby it stacked up against the last ten years of results.

Top Three Catches – Boat Name, Angler
44.90# – Mud Duck, Ryan Schramm
43.35# – Lucky Stripes, Bob Bowden
42.60# – Sea Eagle, Rick Lamb

This year’s event raised $50,000 for support of the Beach Haven Charter Boat Association initiative to pump new blood into the reef program which has been dormant for so many years.

Linda Lee Sportfishing Report by Captain Ryan Horton

On Saturday Capt. Ryan had out Joe, son Joey, Mike, Steve, and camera man Jim out striper fishing. We headed north and put the lines in off Chadwick Beach at sunrise. Within 20 minuets we had birds working. As we trolled through them the screen lit up and then both bunker spoon rods went off. Once we landed both bass we set out the lines and within minutes another double header. We managed to land 6 bass up to 45 lbs. We switched over to the jig but could not get a bight. The guys wanted to wreck fish so we switched over and fished the Axle Carlson. The first drop we got little Joey on a keeper sea bass. There’s nothing better then putting a smile on an 8 year olds face. We fished till noon before the winds picked up and made wreck fishing difficult. If you’re looking to get in on the action give a call.
~ Captain Ryan P: 609-276-8032.

Big Inshore Critters

By now most have heard about the numerous bluefin tuna and thresher sharks caught by boats looking for striped bass. They’ve been hanging around for a couple weeks now and if the bait (abundance of sand eels and small bonita) stays they could be here for weeks more.

Anglers trolling for striped bass have hooked into these and most are spooled with only few able to manage the big pull on small under gunned “striped bass” tackle. These “ghosts” are also a great target for anglers looking for top water popping action. We suggest Tsunami Surface Blaster which has accounted for an alarming number of bluefins tuna this summer and it continues to fool tuna this fall. Also RonZ Lures are a stand out producer year in and year out.

Andres Hernandez and crew got into good fishing recently. On Thursday they were looking for bass, pre-fishing for the Shell Derby. A screamer hit a MagicTail Mojo Lure… turns out to be a 120# bluefin tuna. The battle on a Penn 330GTI with 30# braid was WAY too light for the task but the crew did an amazing job and got it in for the kill! Fishing he same waters a day or two later the crew got into great striped bass fishing and finished towards the top of the Shell’s Leaderboard.

Fish Head Alumni Dave was out fishing with his buddy Chad aboard the Gobbagol this weekend. They reported great striped bass fishing working the waters of off Seaside. They also got an interesting bite on the troll. Dave reported, “We hooked up with a thresher shark (easily 200#) on a bunker spoon. It took to the air jumping all over the place putting on a show. We eventually got it close to the boat but it parted ways boat side. The little Avet Fishing Reel really held up its end of the bargain. That’s why you buy American and don’t fish cheap Chinese garbage!”

LBI Surf Fishing Report

The leading edge of the run has reached our beaches and more waves will show with each passing tide. Attention all chunkers!!! It’s time to soak bunker on the surf.

Finally a fish over 20# in the derby so it shows the larger fish are roaming the beaches of LBI.  With the water temp at 58 it’s prime striped bass fishing but also the temperature when dogfish move in.  Currently there’s lots of them so bring extra bait to work through them.

Sunday’s hard northeast blow had most comfortable on the couch watching football; however hardcore surf rats were out. Some live for these conditions because it puts fish on the beach. One of those anglers out battling rough conditions was Kevin Laverty. His name should not come as a surprise as he is a hardcore fisherman. He won this past Spring Derby’s bluefish division with a 16.34# fish. He also had the second biggest blue, 14.92#.  

Monday Bill Heade put some time in on the surf. He posted this photo with a caption, “The best part of working the night shift is you can fish all day!” Bill caught one bass fishing Fish Head Salties (salted clam). He checked it in for the LBI Surf Fishing Classic and currently sits in third place.

LBI Surf Fishing Classic

Top Three Largest Striped Bass

25.12# Brandon Pomykacz
11.54# Kevin Laverty
11.20# William Heade

For More Details: www.LBISFC.com

@LifeOfNutt sent in this photo today… “The Vegan was out on the surf slaying it today!” Here’s a photo of Griffin Pounds with a striper he caught off the LBI surf on Monday.

Inshore Bottom Fishing

Inshore wreck fishing is good with sea bass and tog fishing offering the best opportunities. White chins are crushing green crabs and knuckle heads are nibbling clam and squid. Be sure to bring a dehooker and extra bait as some areas, especially the two local artificial reefs had a lot of dogfish over the weekend. 

Barnegat Bay & Inlet Fishing

The Barnegat Bay holds a good number of striped bass. Anglers are catching on the flats, sod banks and tidal creeks. The docks and bridges also have life. The main thoroughfares of Double Creek and Oyster Creek are two great sections of water to hunt striped bass in the bay during the fall. Casting lures as well as drifting or anchoring presenting live or dead baits is the way to get ’em. Spot, eels, clams will get them to commit. As far as lures we suggest Stillwater Smack-It Poppers, Bomber Long Shots, SP Minnows and Storm Shads.

The inlet rocks always holds life and right now it’s tog and striped bass. They are both roaming the rocks and are hungry. Anglers are catching tog on crabs while lures and live bait like eels and spot are bass to bite.

In the bay blue claw crabs are still active. Get in on the late season crabbing now while it’s still good.

Fish Head Charters

Fish Head Charters is into good fun fishing on all recent trips. We continue to do combos targeting both striped bass and tog. Some days the albies show but for the most part this has been a sporadic thing.

Working inshore structure we are catching good numbers of blackfish when the conditions allow. So far this fall the biggest is this 8lber. All of the magic is done with Magictail tog jigs (baited with live green crab).

Low light fishing has been best for hunting striped bass. We haven’t switched gears yet but we’ll be soon jumping into the troll game. It always take some time as I (and most of Fish Head Charters clients) prefer hunting and presenting with a stalking light tackle approach. Live bait and heavy gear trolling is our last resort.

Our last trip had a great golden hour session. The first hour was full of action with active bass. Here’s Jack K with one of many from the trip.